South Medford wide receiver Chase Cota had a series of goals in mind early in his high school career.

One of the big ones for the 6-foot-4, 190-pound pass-catcher was to earn an invitation to The Opening Finals at Nike World Headquarters.

Having accomplished that goal this spring, Cota has spent the past few months waiting on the camp to begin.

On Thursday, Cota said the event was more than worth all the hard work and anticipation.

"It's crazy," he said. "I'm glad I could make it out. I've been waiting to get out here, and I've had a nagging hip injury for the past six-to-eight weeks... I really only got in like three workouts before I got here. But shoot, it's such a big deal to me, I'll come up here at like 85, 90 percent of what I'm at. I won't test, I'll do the drills and play in the 7-on tournament. It's really exciting."

For the Oregon talent, no experience was more special than getting pointers from legendary NFL wide receiver Jerry Rice, who spent more than an hour giving high schoolers pointers about various routes.

"Now that it's over looking back on it, I was like, 'Woah, that's the coolest thing ever.' But while it was happening I was so nervous," Cota said. "I was like, 'Frick, he's going to watch everything.' I made sure my stance was perfect and stuff. It was awesome."

On the recruiting front, Cota cut his list to seven schools recently, but indicated he plans to trim that down to "four or five" by the end of summer.

From there, he'll take official visits and make a decision.

As expected, Oregon remains very much in the hunt.

It's only the quarterback/wide receiver/tight end day at The Opening Finals, but Cota already has a memory that will last a lifetime.

Can't believe I've been getting pointers from Cooper Kupp & the best WR to ever live Jerry Rice😳 — Chase Cota (@ccota_) June 29, 2017

-- Andrew Nemec

anemec@oregonian.com

@AndrewNemec