Brooks commits to Tigers, thinks national title could be on the horizon

Brooks chose Clemson over Auburn, Notre Dame and Arkansas.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Jun 20 22:48:51 GMT-04:00 2011

The best player in Arkansas is headed to Clemson, and he says he believes a National Championship is just over the horizon for the Clemson program.

Four-star running back Zac Brooks Zac Brooks
Athlete
6-2, 180
Jonesboro, AR
View Full Profile of Jonesboro, Arkansas – the top player in the state according to many sites – committed to the Tigers Monday evening. He chose Clemson over Auburn, Notre Dame and Arkansas.

Brooks had offers from the above schools, as well as Memphis, Ole Miss, UNC, Pitt, Purdue and Stanford, but said last week’s visit to Clemson for Dabo Swinney’s camp made too much of an impression for him to pass up.

“When I went to Clemson for those two days, I fell in love with it,” Brooks told TigerNet Monday night. “I felt in my heart that it was the place to go. I just went with my heart.”

Brooks was recruited by offensive coordinator Chad Morris, and Brooks said that relationship plus a long talk with his father also helped him make up his mind.

“Coach Morris and those guys did a wonderful job introducing Clemson and themselves to me and recruiting me,” he said. “I love those guys, and I plan on getting an even better relationship with all of them. I talked it over with my dad, and he asked me if this was what I wanted and I told him yes. He said that he respected my choice whichever way I wanted to go, and I chose Clemson.”

Brooks said after he made his decision, he called Swinney and got two Clemson head coaches for the price of one phone call because head basketball coach Brad Brownell was with Swinney at the time.

“I called Coach Swinney first, and he was ecstatic,” he said. “He told me to say it again just so he knew he heard me right. And then I talked to the basketball coach, too. After that, I called Coach Morris, and he was doing a beat box for me on the phone. It sounded like he was ready to move.”

Brooks will play both wide receiver and running back for the Tigers, and posted solid numbers the past two seasons.

As a junior, Brooks rushed for over 1,300 yards and had 17 touchdowns while catching 32 passes for 200 yards and two more touchdowns. During his sophomore season he played wide receiver and said he caught 39 passes for 769 yards and five touchdowns.

Brooks said that Morris has told him he wants to use him all over the field.

“I love the way Coach Morris runs that offense,” he said. “I think God set this up and placed me there. Coach Morris wants to use me at both running back and wide receiver, and not all schools wanted me to do that. There were three other schools that wanted me to do that, but I wanted to do it with Clemson.”

Now, he said he wants the world to know that Clemson is poised for bigger and better things.

“I am looking forward to winning a National Championship in a couple of years,” he said. “I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t. The people I have met, and the people I have heard about that are coming to Clemson – I mean, why not? It is in the bag. We have to win the National Championship.”

Brooks commitment is the seventh for the Tigers in two weeks, joining Travis Blanks, T.J. Burrell, Ronnie Geohaghan, Bradley Pinion, Cordrea Tankersley and Chad Kelly. Jay Guillermo, Patrick DeStefano and Germone Hopper were the earlier commitments. Clemson's 2012 recruiting class was ranked 7th in the country even before Brooks' decision.

2012 F O O T B A L L C O M M I T S
Name	POS	HT, WT	Hometown (School)
Travis Blanks	DB	6-1 180	Tallahassee, FL (North Florida Christian HS)
Zac Brooks	ATH	6-2 180	Jonesboro, AR (Jonesboro HS)
T.J. Burrell	LB	6-1 195	Goose Creek, SC (Goose Creek HS)
Patrick DeStefano	OL	6-4 275	Roebuck, SC (Dorman HS)
Ronnie Geohaghan	S	6-0 185	Fairfax, SC (Allendale Fairfax HS)
Jay Guillermo	OL	6-3 285	Maryville, TN (Maryville HS)
Germone Hopper	ATH	6-0 175	Charlotte, NC (Phillip Berry Academy)
Chad Kelly	QB	6-2 205	Buffalo, NY (St Joseph's Collegiate Inst)
Shaquille Lawson	DL	6-4 240	Central, SC (Daniel HS)
Bradley Pinion	K	6-6 220	Concord, NC (Northwest Cabarrus HS)
Cordrea Tankersley	ATH	6-2 195	Aiken, SC (Silver Bluff HS)