Jalen Brooks makes favorable early impression
Looking to add an additional playmaker to its wide receiving corps for the 2020 season, South Carolina dug deep and may have found exactly what it needs from an unconventional spot.
On Monday, Will Muschamp officially announced the addition of wide receiver transfer Jalen Brooks to the Gamecocks' roster.
Listed at 6-foot-3, 190-pounds, Brooks committed to South Carolina a few weeks ago and was added to the roster when he moved into his dorm last week.
"In the short time we've been with him, he runs around extremely well," Muschamp said. "He's a big, physical guy. He's very intelligent; he learns extremely well. So in a short period of time, he's made a very favorable impression on our staff."
While Brooks took an unorthodox route to South Carolina, he was excited to join the program and there are early signs that he could be just what the Gamecocks need at a position group with question marks.
Brooks spent the last two seasons at Wingate where he caught 50 passes for 998 yards and nine touchdowns.
Brooks entered the transfer portal and transferred to Tarleton State earlier this year before re-entering the transfer portal this summer in an effort to get back closer to his Harrisburg, N.C. home.
The Hickory Ridge High graduate landed offers from both South Carolina and Duke and was receiving interest from Florida State, North Carolina and Tennessee when he committed to the Gamecocks.
Brooks credited his former head coach Jason Seidel, now the head coach at nearby Blythewood High, for continuing to help him through the recruiting process.
On Monday, Muschamp also praised the communication the staff received from Seidel, who called Brooks one of the hardest working players he's ever coached.
"He has grown a lot since he played in high school as far as his body is concerned," Muschamp explained. "His body has changed tremendously. We know some people that he throws with that all reached out to us and talked about his work ethic, his athleticism, his hand-eye coordination and his ball skills. And his tape is really impressive."
With Brooks on campus and the Gamecocks starting practice today, the next step is to find out if he's going to be eligible to play this year.
South Carolina has submitted a request to the NCAA for a waiver for immediate eligibility for the junior who has three years to play two.
"With those waivers, you never know, you never know exactly when," Muschamp said. "I'm sure because of what we're going through, there's a lot out there and there's a lot on the NCAA's plate right now. We do feel good about some family situations that we do feel like are real and we feel he should be ruled favorably to be able to play this year."
The Gamecocks sought and received a similar waiver last season for William and Mary tight end transfer Nick Muse, though to Muschamp's point, the timeline on receiving an answer can be difficult to predict, even in more certain times, and Muse was granted eligibility after the first week of the season.
But in a year where Muschamp has delivered an "all hands on deck" message to his team when depth could be key to a productive season, if Brooks is deemed eligible, he could quickly become a wildcard to watch at a position group that needs players to step up after losing Deebo Samuel two offseasons ago and Bryan Edwards after this past season
"It's a position that we need some more productive guys and some more dependable guys at the position," Muschamp said. "So as we continued to research him, we were extremely impressed with what we saw and we felt like he can be a huge contributor to us."
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