RB Brooks chooses Big East

Duquesne, Pa. running back Shane Brooks knew about Pittsburgh with the university being so close to home. Then new Panther coach Dave Wannstedt made Pitt the clear choice for his commitment.

"I liked Pittsburgh and coach Wannstedt and his staff made it even better," said the 5-foot-10, 218-pounder. "He is really calm and has a great plan for the direction of the program. I liked my meetings with him and what he said. He seems like a laid back guy that I can really learn from."

Wannstedt, a former NFL head coach, and Pittsburgh were too much to turn down for Brooks who has verbally committed to the Panthers.

The three-star back had a strong high school senior season with 1,545 yards on 222 carries along with 13 touchdowns. Brooks made an official visit to Pittsburgh on Dec. 17 where he was hosted by freshman tailback Brandon Mason. The Panthers have three senior running backs next year with Raymond Kirkley, Tim Murphy and Marcus Furman, so Brooks likes his future prospects for playing time when Pitt starts reloading after this season at running back.

"The visit went good, but I knew a lot about the school from growing up around here, so I knew about the good things Pitt has," Brooks said. "The visit really wasn't the biggest thing. It was the coaching staff and program. Pitt was the choice."

Brooks has visits set up for later this month to Connecticut and Akron.

"I'm not sure if I will take those visits or not," Brooks said. "I'm going to sit down and talk about it and see. Right now the news it out and the phone is ringing. It has been pretty crazy."

Brooks is ranked as the No. 34 running back in the country by Rivals.com.