COMMENTARY Options Open For Brooks

JUNIOR IMPRESSED WITH ARKANSAS

While there were a horde of 2011 prospects that showed up at the University of Arkansas Elite Camp Saturday, there was also several “elite” 2012 ones.

One of those was Jonesboro junior wide receiver Zac Brooks (6-foot-2, 175 pounds, 4.4 seconds in 40-yard dash), who got an offer from the Razorbacks during his sophomore season.

It gave him a chance to look over the school for the first time.

“Arkansas seems like a pretty good place to be at,” Brooks said. “I love the facilities and the school is pretty nice, too.”

“… They’re good,” Brooks added later of Arkansas. “I can see myself in red. I just want to keep my options open until my senior year.”

Brooks, who caught 38 passes for 769 yards and five touchdowns last season, has offers from Arkansas, Ole Miss and Arkansas State and believes he is on the verge of getting one from Auburn.

“This year they have moved me to running back obviously so I will probably touch the ball a lot more and I think that will have more of an impact on what I do,” Brooks said.

Brooks makes it clear what is out front for him in the recruiting process and made that clear to Arkansas assistant Tim Horton.

“Academics comes first,” Brooks said. “That’s the first thing I asked coach Tim Horton about - how is your academics? Without academics, you’ve got nothing.”

Jonesboro coach Randy Coleman had some very nice things to say about Brooks in a recent Jonesboro Sun article.

“We are very proud of Zach, certainly because he’s a fine player, but more importantly because he is a good student and teammate,” Coleman said. “He works hard in the classroom, and he is one of our hardest workers in our off-season program.

“He is all the things a student athlete is supposed to be, and whenyou add that with great ability, you get a lot of attention from college football programs.”

Brooks has been to several camps this summer, including the Nike camp in Fort Worth in April, where he was named one of the top performers.

“It’s been going good so far,” Brooks said. “I have been doing a lot of working out, a lot of lifting weights and lot of endurance type workouts.”

Brooks is one of at least two Division I prospects at Jonesboro as senior linebacker Brad Shearin is also an outstanding prospect.

He is thinking big about the 2010 season, which features a game at Fayetteville.

“I think we can make it all the way,” Brooks said. “As far as my leadership-wise and the quarterback, we kind of push our team kind of hard. Brad Shearin is there and we have got a great work ethic and dedication.” DUDLEY E. DAWSON IS THE RECRUITING EDITOR FOR HAWGS ILLUSTRATED.

Sports, Pages 6 on 07/23/2010

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