Practice report: How family brought transfer Jalen Brooks to South Carolina
Jalen Brooks didn’t start his career at Division II Wingate University because he couldn’t go D-I.
The wide receiver from North Carolina said Tuesday in a video interview with South Carolina’s sports communications staff that he took that route because he didn’t want his mom to have to pay for college. But after two years, he started looking at bigger things and spent the spring at Tarlton State in Texas with a program that is moving into Division I.
But family brought him back to the Carolinas.
“Just being there for my family,” Brooks said. “Just being there for my younger brother. My older brother has been home from Australia and then my mom, she’s a single parent. So it’s always good just having that extra support around.”
Brooks had planned to go to North Carolina A&T before he started talking to his high school coach Jason Seidel, now at Blythewood. The coach put in some calls and higher-level interest started flooding in for the 6-foot-3 speedster.
He said he was expecting either an offer from Duke or South Carolina, and when Will Muschamp delivered, Brooks committed on the spot.
This offseason, he got in some work with first-round draft pick Daniel Jones, who is part of the same training organization, learning some elements of NFL scheme. He also said Gamecocks passers Collin Hill and Connor Jordan were often calling him up to come work out.
Brooks, who posted more than 700 yards and 21 yards per catch last season, said Seidel helped take him around campus, but he already had some experience coming to Columbia.
“The crazy thing is that I’ve already been down here at the South Carolina campus multiple times,” Brooks said, “running track at Wingate University because we have multiple track meets at the indoor. And then coach Seidel brought me to areas like the academic buildings that I haven’t been able to see.”
Brooks is expected to add experience to an unproven receiving group and was mentioned by multiple players, notably star corners Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu and quarterbacks in Ryan Hilinski and Hill, as someone who was making plays early in camp.
USC football practice tidbits
▪ In a school news release, Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said there was some sloppy play in red zone work Tuesday, including some penalties. The issues were on both sides of the ball with a defensive player lining up offsides and a tipped ball interception.
▪ In one QB drill, the order of QBs was Collin Hill, Ryan Hilinski, Luke Doty and Connor Jordan, based on video the school posted to Instagram.
▪ Defensive tackle Rick Sandidge had one nice rep in the Oklahoma drill, beating starting right tackle Dylan Wonnum.
▪ The team won’t practice on Wednesday and instead have a weight room and film day. Practices are closed to fans and media because of COVID-19 concerns.
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Practice report: How family brought transfer Jalen Brooks to South Carolina."
