Cooper 2026 QB Cam O'Hara is on Vince Marrow's radar: 'I love Kentucky.'

Class of 2026 in-state quarterback Cam O’Hara was in Lexington on Saturday for the second straight weekend. He made the trip down from Union, KY to check out the Kentucky football team once again.

Although his two visits to UK were not what he expected — the first a two-hour lightning delay followed by a cancelation in a win over Southern Miss and the second a 31-6 smacking by South Carolina — O’Hara is still high on the Wildcats and what he’s been hearing from the coaching staff.

O’Hara, a junior quarterback at Cooper who led the Jaguars to the Class 5A state championship game as a sophomore in 2023, is being primarily recruited to Kentucky by associate head coach Vince Marrow. New offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan has gotten more involved, as well.

“I love Kentucky. I love what they’re doing there,” O’Hara told KSR after Cooper beat rival Ryle 21-14 on Friday in the KSR Game of the Week. “They have a new (offensive coordinator), I really like him. Really good energy from them. Coach Marrow, I’ve been in contact with him a lot. He’s a really good dude.”

O’Hara currently holds eight Division I offers. Kentucky reached out with a scholarship in Sept. 2023 when Liam Coen was still the team’s OC. But he and Hamdan have quickly established a relationship. They talked and joked ahead of the game against Southern Miss and then met again prior to South Carolina.

Along with Kentucky, O’Hara holds additional offers from the likes of Tennessee State, Austin Peay, Miami (OH), WKU, EKU, Akron, and Kent State. He says that Louisville and South Florida are also reaching out regularly. Alabama recently invited him to come down for a gameday visit this season.

O’Hara has Cooper off to a 3-0 start with the No. 8 spot in KSR’s latest Top 25 rankings update. His play alongside 2025 four-star EDGE Austin Alexander, who is committed to North Carolina and splits time at tight end, has the Jaguars looking to make it back to the title game. O’Hara refers to Alexander as his “best friend” and the “best player I’ve ever watched”. They’ve linked up for 10 catches and 113 yards this season.

Although On3 does not currently have O’Hara ranked, both 247Sports and Rivals have him listed as a three-star prospect. He’s among the best juniors in the state of Kentucky and it’s easy to see why. He struggled with having his passes batted down against Ryle, but otherwise lit up the Raiders for 356 yards and three touchdowns (two in the air, one on the ground) on 25-41 passing.

He was named MVP of the rivalry showdown after throwing the game-winning touchdown pass with 38 seconds left in a tie game.

Cooper takes advantage of the Ryle muffed punt.

Cam O’Hara hits Isaiah Johnson for the go-ahead touchdown.

Cooper 21, Ryle 14
0:38 4th Q pic.twitter.com/qRVSz7upib

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) September 7, 2024

Through three games played, O’Hara has totaled 736 passing yards for nine touchdowns (zero interceptions) on a completion rate of 66.7 percent. Against Ryle, he dealt with constant pressure from the opposing defensive line, but mostly handled it with poise.

“I told Cam in the first half: he’s really starting to mature as a player. He grew up tonight. He grew up a little bit last year,” Cooper head coach Randy Borchers said following Friday’s win. “They were putting pressure on him. He took some hits tonight. Our second touchdown, he threw a hell of a pass and he got tattooed. He’s learning to stay in the pocket. I think he got a little happy feet in the second half, rightfully so — they were bringing the house and they were hitting him every play.”

A nearly broken play turns into a late touchdown for Cooper.

QB Cam O’Hara connects with WR Jaidan Combs for a wild score.

Cooper 14, Ryle 0
0:41 2nd Q pic.twitter.com/mlEnOfUIVF

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) September 7, 2024

O’Hara says he’s in no rush to make a decision. His plan is to use this junior season as a way to take visits and hopefully rack up some more offers before ramping up his process in the spring/summer. If he continues to perform at the rate he has through three games this season, more schools will come knocking.

“He’s gonna continue to mature, he’s gonna continue to get better,” Borchers added. “The biggest thing with Cam, it doesn’t matter if it’s going well or going bad. He keeps his composure. You never know how it’s gonna go because he acts the same regardless if things are going good or bad. When you have a quarterback who acts that way and can keep that composure, he’s gonna be pretty special.”