Brooks visits Auburn, considering joining No. 1 class

AUBURN | Auburn High power forward Garrison Brooks plans to take all five of his official visits before announcing his college choice in November.

The Rivals150 recruit needs only to decide which five schools he’ll visit.

Brooks has several options, including Mississippi State where his father, George Brooks, is an assistant coach. But the younger Brooks is certain of only one visit as of Thursday.

“Sept. 2-4 will be my official visit to Texas A&M,” Brooks said. “Pittsburgh, Arizona State, Providence and Arkansas are the schools I’m thinking about visiting for officials. I’ll visit Auburn in September or October, but it probably won’t be an official, and I probably won’t take one to Mississippi State.”

Brooks, who is ranked by Rivals as the No. 133 player in the 2017 class, doesn’t need to take an official visit to nearby Auburn. He’s visited with Bruce Pearl and staff several times since his freshman season.

Brooks returned to Auburn’s campus Thursday to meet again with Pearl, but also spent time talking with athletics director Jay Jacobs and university president Jay Gogue.

“It went great,” Brooks said. “The visit went smooth as usual, but it was more about academics. I met with Dr. Gogue and Mr. Jacobs and that went very well. We talked about becoming an athletics director, which is what I want to do. Mr. Jacobs said you can make a difference in a lot of young people's lives and that’s why I want to do it.”

Brooks’ meeting with Pearl was to learn the coach’s plan for Brooks should he sign with Auburn. Pearl currently has the No. 1-ranked recruiting class in the country, a group that includes five-star center Austin Wiley, four-star forward Chuma Okeke and four-star point guard Davion Mitchell.

“I sat down with Coach Pearl and we broke down some film,” Brooks said. “It was really good. He showed me how I would fit into their system with me and Austin (Wiley). He showed me how we would play together and complement each other.”

Wiley has preached the same to Brooks. The two are close friends and have talked about playing together in college.

“I have talked to (Wiley) and I already know he wants me on board,” Brooks said.