Cedar Rapids Kennedy OL Nick Brooks commits to Iowa over elite schools including Alabama, Georgia
IOWA CITY, Iowa – After living in Georgia for two years, Nick Brooks returned to his hometown of Cedar Rapids this summer to be closer to his family, and to play football for the Kennedy Cougars.
Brooks, who is considered one of the top offensive lineman in the 2025 class, attended Harding Middle School in Cedar Rapids with many of his Kennedy teammates.
He now plans to stay in Iowa for the foreseeable future after announcing on his birthday his verbal commitment to Iowa football team Friday afternoon in a press conference at Kennedy.
Brooks, who is listed at 6-foot-7 and 375 pounds, picked Iowa over reported scholarship offers from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina State and Florida State among others.
The chance to play close to home and to play for veteran Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and offensive line coach George Barnett all were factors in Brooks’ decision.
“The coaching staff, they’re so great,” Brooks said to 247Sports. “Coach Barnett, he’s been doing it for a long time. Coach Ferentz, nobody does it better.”
When asked what Iowa was getting in Brooks, he said:
“You’re getting a dog, for real.”
His commitment comes less than a week after Brooks visited the Iowa campus. Brooks also attended Iowa’s 24-14 victory over Utah State last Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
Iowa was thought to be in a good position with Brooks from a recruiting standpoint, and then when he announced that he would be revealing his college choice on Friday, it seemed even more likely that he would pick Iowa since he had visited just recently.
And that would prove to be the case.
His decision comes just one recruiting cycle after 2023 offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor signed with Alabama after having previously been committed to Iowa.
Proctor attended Southeast Polk High School and was widely regarded as the top offensive tackle in his class.
Brooks is ranked as four-star recruit by ESPN, On3Sports, Rivals and 247Sports.
Three of those four recruiting services also rank him as the top prospect in Iowa in the 2025 class, the exception being 247Sports, which ranks him second.
In addition to his mammoth frame, Brooks also has good quickness for a player his size.
Brooks still has nearly two years of high school remaining and is just two games into his junior season with Kennedy.
The challenge for Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, and his staff now, is to keep Brooks committed as a Hawkeye until he signs a national letter of intent.
The recruiting landscape has changed dramatically in recent years with name, image and likeness playing a key role in many decisions.