It?s been a long time coming, but St. Frances Academy senior Aric Brooks has made his college decision. The 6-foot-6 All-Examiner first-team guard/forward confirmed Sunday that he will be suiting up for Jacksonville (Fla.) University, an Atlantic Sun Conference program.
“It?s been real crazy because I?ve been having people in school almost every day ask me what school I?m going to,” said Brooks, who delayed his decision until his father?s return from Cuba. “All I could tell them was wait. It really feels good right now.”
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His final decision, which he made while on a visit to the school Saturday, came down between Jacksonville and Loyola.
“I like Loyola, but at the same time, I felt like I needed to get out of Baltimore. It felt like the perfect fit for me,” said Brooks, who plans to major in marketing.
Aric?s father, Eric, returned in March from working in Cuba and helped his son with his college choice.
“He told me I?m not done yet,” Brooks said. “I?ll have to start where I left off at the top of my game.”
That?s exactly where the younger Brooks left off in high school ? at the top. After averaging 15 points per game for St. Frances (22-10), he had a major coming-out party at the Charm City Challenge, scoring 24 points to lead the star-studded Baltimore squad over the U.S. team, 116-113. Many in attendance called Brooks the best player on the court after he began to take over in the second half.
With that in mind, it might come as a surprise that Brooks is choosing the mid-major Dolphins, who went 15-13 last season. But he likes the turnaround coach Cliff Warren oversaw in his second season after a 1-26 campaign in 2005-06.
Brooks said he loves what Warren has done, “building the program back up to what it used to be,” referring to when Artis Gilmore led the program to the NCAA final in 1970, losing to UCLA, 80-69.
Warren was surprised that Brooks had not been snatched up by a larger program, but he has high expectations for his prized recruit.
“Just because of his versatility, I think he has a chance to play a lot of minutes,” Warren said.
Notes: Mount St. Joseph junior Henry Sims, a 6-foot-11 center who earned first-team All-Examiner honors last winter, has verbally committed to play at Georgetown.
