Mississippi State reportedly denies 4-star recruit’s release from Letter of Intent

Former four-star recruit and Mississippi State signee Garrison Brooks requested his release from his Letter of Intent in late March, which he signed during the 2016 early signing period. On Tuesday, it was reported that the school has denied his release.

According to The Clarion-Ledger, both Brooks and the school submitted the paperwork for his release the week of March 20.

Both parties — the player and school — have submitted information to the NCAA, and an NCAA appeals committee will have to make a decision on the matter and the timetable for that is a week or two. Therefore, there is a chance Brooks will still end up at MSU.

But just 10 days later, it appears as if Brooks may not be leaving MSU after all. One of the more interesting things about this situation is that Brooks, who attended Auburn High School, is the son of current Bulldogs basketball assistant Georgia Brooks. For Whom The Cowbell Tolls suggested on Tuesday that this relationship may have something to do with all of this.

What makes it unique is the stuff beneath the surface that is the talk of message board fodder. Supposedly, the mother of Brooks has a very contentious relationship with his father. Garrison’s mother was never on board with her son going to play with his dad. So much so, she did not attend his signing day ceremony at Auburn High School in Alabama.

Brooks’ mother, Tammala Colquitt, then provided this statement to For Whom The Bell Tolls on the situation on Tuesday afternoon.

We’re not done with the appeal process. We will go to the ends of the earth because Garrison does not want to attend Mississippi State. Contrary to what people think, this is not his mother’s decision. Yes there is friction between his parents, because I don’t think any kid should be railroaded into protecting a person’s job or doing something for his parents. This is his life. I’m prepared to retain an attorney. I’ve spoken with Mississippi State. I tried to resolve this amicably. Just release the kid. He clearly does not want to go.

Garrison has another appeal with the NLI. There’s another process that we can go through that would put everyone out there. It could put his dad as a coach out there. How did he come to this decision? Was there bad advice on his behalf? How did he make this decision without his mother? How did his dad sign the NLI if he isn’t the custodial parent? There’s a lot of things that the media does not know. I’ve never even seen the NLI. Garrison has never been a resident of Mississippi. He doesn’t even live there. His father really had no right to sign the NLI. Mississippi State knew that and they shouldn’t have allowed it. That’s why I’m questioning that part.

My appeal to them as an institution is to release the kid if he doesn’t want to go there. Don’t bring a firestorm of rumors and allegations. You don’t want those problems with a new athletics director. His dad could easily go in there and say “hey, hey, hey, it’s time to stop this. My son doesn’t want to go.” That would be what I would do. But he’s not standing up for Garrison.

My thing is we’re going to take this to the end of the earth. If that means we have to lawyer up, fight fire with fire, we’re going to see this to the end. Garrison does not intend to play basketball for Mississippi State. He doesn’t plan on going to juco. If he has to go to prep school, that’s fine, we’ll do that. But he’s not playing for Mississippi State because he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t feel that it’s a good fit. He feels like he made an emotional decision.

My thing is I want people to get it right. This isn’t an issue of a mother trying to enforce something. This is a kid who has come to me and said “mom, I don’t want to go there. What can I do?” Me being the mother that I’ve been for 17 years, I’m going to go tooth and nail for him. I feel like he’s been railroaded. I feel like he’s been misrepresented.

That is not what I’m going to allow. Garrison is a good kid. He’s a good student. He’s a good athlete. He deserves better than what we’re receiving right now.

The last highly touted Mississippi State player to transfer out, former five-star guard Malik Newman, went to Kansas without any restrictions or limitations set by MSU. Newman will make his debut next season with the Jayhawks.

MSU’s 2017 recruiting class currently is made up of of Brooks, five-star point guard Nick Weatherspoon, and three-star forward KeyShawn Feazell. The Bulldogs finished last season with a 16-16 record, along with a 6-12 mark in conference play.