Class 5A Blog: Thomas County Central EDGE Camron Brooks commits to California

Thomas County Central standout EDGE rusher Camron Brooks will play for the California Golden Bears while becoming the highest-rated high school recruit to commit to Cal in the past 15 years.

He will join his fellow teammate Artem Korchagin, who committed to California in early April. According to 247Sports Composite, Brooks is a 4-star prospect, the No. 19 EDGE, and the No. 22 player in Georgia. Brooks is rated the highest on Rivals as a Top-70 recruit nationally.

Although he is committed to California, Brooks has official visits to Clemson (May 30th), Florida State (June 6th), California (June 12th), Ohio State (June 20th) and Miami. It will be interesting to see if he still decides to take these visits or cancel them.

Brooks finished his junior season with 15 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. He helped lead the Yellow Jackets to the quarterfinals and an 11-2 record this past season. He was named to the Touchdown Club of Atlanta First-Team All-State Defense. The stats don’t tell the full story for Brooks, who battled injuries throughout his junior season, which limited his production. Make no mistake about it, when he is on the field, he is a terror and tough to keep away from the quarterback. His first step and hands make him an elite blue-chip recruit.

Brooks broke onto the scene as a true freshman, posting 27 tackles, four sacks, a forced fumble and a quarterback hit. He also won a state championship as a sophomore when Thomas County Central won its first state title since 1997. He has high upside on the next level with his ability to affect the game in the backfield and his relentless motor.

Brooks announced his top nine schools back in January, which included Auburn, Clemson, California, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Georgia, Ohio State, and Tennessee. The Golden Bears remained heavy on Brooks and swayed him away from SEC powers in the process. California has done a great job of recruiting at Thomas County Central, which is brewing with talent every year. The Golden Bears may not be done adding from the state of Georgia and could add more prospects from south Georgia, especially after having success with Brooks and Korchagin.