#DRAFTCOHEN PARTY SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY

GREENSBORO (April 25, 2017) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University will host a #DraftCohen student celebration for NFL Draft hopeful Tarik Cohen this Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. in Academic Classroom Building, Room 101.

A record-setting running back from Bunn, N.C., Cohen has earned national media attention over the past several months as a popular “sleeper pick” in the April 27-29 NFL Draft in Philadelphia. Despite his size (5-foot-6, 179 pounds), Cohen has dazzled scouts with his athleticism, strength and speed. At the recent NFL Combine, he had the third-fastest 40-yard dash time (4.42) among running backs.

Earlier this year, he was the first-ever recipient of the Deacon Jones Award given by the Black College Football Hall of Fame. The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C., also named him their Black College Football Player of the Year.

In May of 2015, Cohen became a social media star when he caught a football while doing a backflip. He later caught two passes while doing a backflip. He has also made appearances on ESPN’s SportsCenter, been the subject of numerous articles from ESPN’s The Undefeated and was the featured athlete on ESPN’s popular Sports Science segment. If Cohen is drafted, he will be the first N.C. A&T Aggie drafted to the NFL since offensive lineman Junius Coston went in the sixth round to Green Bay in 2005.

“We are extremely proud of Tarik and all he has done for the North Carolina A&T football program, the athletics department and the overall university,” said Earl M. Hilton III, director of athletics at N.C. A&T. “At the same time the university’s top administrators were looking to define and expand A&T’s brand, Tarik became an unexpected and unmatched ambassador in those efforts.

“We hope the best for him this weekend, and we want to give him all the support we can.”