Blair Brooks walking on at Iowa

A state champion high jumper and long jumper, Blair Brooks had several college track programs recruiting him. Also a 6-foot-3, 190-pound wide receiver with good speed, the Marion native had football offers from Western Illinois and South Dakota with interest from several others.

In the end, Brooks wanted to try his hand at both sports in college and decided there was no better place to do that than just down the road in Iowa City with the Hawkeyes. On Saturday, he announced that he will be headed to Iowa as a preferred walk-on next year.

“I weighed all my options and I just felt like Iowa was the best opportunity for me,” said Brooks. “I am going to see how the two sport option works. I love both, but I will be doing football first and do track when I can for now. It's a blessing to be able to do two sports at the Big Ten level.”

Brooks has grown up around Hawkeye athletics with his father, Rob Brooks, being the radio sideline reporter for Iowa football as well as the play by play announcer for women’s basketball. His grandfather, Bob Brooks, was an Iowa broadcasting legend whose career spanned more than 70 years before he passed away in 2016.

“It's an honor,” Brooks said of playing at Iowa. “I've been dreaming of this since I was little. It's pretty cool to carry on the family tradition.”

As a senior, Brooks has 37 catches for 545 yards and nine touchdowns through eight games at Marion.

Iowa's Class of 2018 walk-ons:

Blair Brooks - 6-foot-3, 190-pound wide receiver from Marion, IA

Connor Ruth - 6-foot-0, 215-pound fullback from Seward, NE

Turner Pallissard - 6-foot-2, 220-pound fullback from Frankfort, IL