Garrison's comments on his signing day...
Brooks announced his decision to attend and play for Mississippi State on Wednesday morning — the first day of college basketball’s early signing period — in front of a packed crowd at Auburn High’s New Gym. The four-star prospect then made it official by signing his National Letter of Intent.

"I knew for a couple of weeks," Brooks said about his decision, "but I took a couple of days just to make sure this is where I think is best for me. And this is where I think is best for me.

"It’s a monkey off my back, really."

Brooks’ father, George Brooks, is an assistant on the Mississippi State staff.

"[That] does mean a lot to me," Brooks said. "I never got a chance to play for my dad and all my friends play for their dad, so it means something.

"It meant a lot but it wasn’t the only thing that factored in. It was one of the main factors but the other stuff factored in with it."

For Brooks, a strong relationship with the entire Mississippi State coaching staff was among the most significant factors. Shortly after Ben Howland was hired as the team's head basketball coach on March 23, 2015, Brooks said he began communicating with him.

"They developed a relationship with me from day one," Brooks said. "When coach Howland got the job, the week after, I started talking to him like immediately."

Eventually, on April 8, Brooks had an in-home visit from Howland.

"How much they have invested in me in the past two years made me feel really good about the situation," Brooks said.

Playing time and the chance to have an immediate impact were other big draws in Brooks' mind. He estimated that he will be playing around 30 minutes for Auburn High this season, and in college, "I don’t want a huge decrease, like to go down to 10 minutes," he said. "I don’t want to do that. I want to go somewhere where I get a chance to compete and start and play a whole lot."

Brooks will have that at Mississippi State.

"I saw what the four-man did in the system for coach Howland last year," Brooks said, "but I think I’ll have a bigger impact than he had."