Point guard Zoe Brooks knew NC State was the place for her due to the pace of play and the offense that features four players around and a post player.
The 5-foot-8 Brooks hopes to be one of those perimeter players down the road. The rising senior from Holmdel (N.J.) St. John Vianney High picked NC State over Miami in a recruitment that had over 40-plus offers.
Related links: FSU transfer River Baldwin poised to fill key spot at NC State | Mimi Collins transfers to NC State | Junior Mallory Colliers picks Pack | Saniya Rivers finds new home at NC State
Brooks didn’t want to pick a school on reputation, but she dug in deep and watched teams play and figured out where she’d fit in best.
“I think we can do special things,” said Brooks, 17. “At times recruiting can be overwhelming. My advice to young girls like me that are still getting recruited to take it slow and really think about it.
“NC State plays four guards and one big. I want to be on a team that plays fast. I want to get up and down and make plays on the break.”
Brooks joined Bartlett (Tenn.) High senior center commit Mallory Collier in NC State’s class of 2023, and the two got to see each other play at the recent USA Basketball trials in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Assistant coach Brittany Morris recruited Brooks, who ESPN’s HoopGurlz ranks No. 33 overall in the country. Brooks plans to officially visit NC State in the fall.
“I can do a lot of stuff for them and not just one thing,” Brooks said. “I can get people better, make plays for others and I can score. I am a good teammate.
"Coach Morris always checked in and made sure I was OK. She got to know me and that was very important. She liked me for me."
Brooks wants to see during her future official visit what the student experience is like for a women’s basketball player.
“I want to see what they do for fun and what is a normal day like with workouts and classes,” said Brooks, who started playing basketball at 5 years old and fell in love with the game at age 9.
NC State targeted Brooks at the beginning of last summer and she unofficially visited NC State on July 1 and it became clear that the Wolfpack were going to be major factors in her recruitment. It also didn’t hurt that numerous cousins, aunts and uncles live in North Carolina. Her cousin was on the track team at Winston-Salem State.
“When I went there, I felt the campus was beautiful,” Brooks said. “I watched them practice and thought the practices were intense. I liked coach [Wes Moore] and his energy, and the assistants were pushing their players.”
Then there was the golf cart trip, which proved memorable to the Plainfield, N.J., native.
“That really set it off,” Brooks said. “My dad said he needed to get to a meeting and he [Moore] drove us in that golf cart as fast as it could. We went through the town, people and through traffic. We’d hit the curves, but we got where we needed to be.
“That is when I knew I had to play for him.”
Brooks avidly watched NC State play and was living every play of the Wolfpack’s Elite Eight loss vs. Connecticut.
“My personal favorite game of the season was against UConn in double overtime,” Brooks said. “Hopefully, we can win a championship. I think I can help them.”
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is her favorite NBA star and Seattle Storm standout Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm is her favorite WNBA player.
Brooks didn’t know Collier before USA Basketball or even that she was a NC State commit. She quickly learned that she’s pretty good. Brooks also was happy with her defensive skills during the trials.
“It was definitely competitive and I learned a lot,” Brooks said. “I learned that I can defend really well for 94 feet. They have been sleeping on my defense.
“I thought Collier was amazing and I’m not just saying that because she’s going to NC State. I remember telling my dad on the first day, ‘Whoever that girl is, she’ll make the team.’ I was shocked when she didn’t.”
Brooks plays for former NBA great and Villanova wing Doug West on Philly Rise in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League. West averaged 9.6 points per game in 676 career NBA games from 1989-2001, playing with the Minnesota Timberwolves and then Vancouver Grizzlies.
West has his own tie-in to NC State. West played with former NC State legend and men’s basketball coach Sidney Lowe on the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1989-90, then played for Lowe, who was a Timberwolves assistant from 1991-93 and head coach 1993-94. Lowe was also West’s head coach in Vancouver in 2000-01.
“[Coach West] definitely does some high-level drills,” Brooks said. “He knows how to get you in shape and push you. He gets a lot of reps done. He is big on reps and consistency.”
Brooks averaged 18.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.8 steals per game for St. John-Vianney. The squad went 32-1 and won the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions under coach Dawn Karpell. She had 14 points and five rebounds in the championship game, a 72-52 win over Rutgers Prep.
Last year was her first year at the program after attending Trenton (N.J.) Catholic.
“We went down as one of the best teams in New Jersey history for girls basketball,” Brooks said. “I fit in pretty well and adjusted.”
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