ON Air with 912 Sports

By Kevin Price

Photography by Michael Brinson

Tyson Rooks summed it up best himself when

sitting down for a recent interview with 912

Sports to talk about his final year of high school.

“It has been a big senior year,” said the

standout student-athlete at Glynn Academy.

“Everything has been a W, a win. Everything

has fallen into place.”

Boy, it certainly has. A three-sport athlete for

the Red Terrors, Rooks has excelled in each

sport he has played this year at Glynn - those

being football, basketball and track and field.

His overall success in the athletic arena made

him the perfect choice for this MVP story in

the final issue of 912 Sports Magazine for the

2021-22 school year.

With a 6-foot-5, 185-pound body frame and

natural athletic abilities galore, Rooks quickly

became an attractive commodity with the

college recruiters after deciding to play

football for the Terrors going into his senior

year. And, he ultimately signed a Power-5

scholarship offer from Illinois which made him

one of their top targets as a defensive back.

Then came basketball season when Rooks

took his already good game to another level

and ended up winning our Player of the Year

honor for boys basketball among the larger

classification schools in our Southeast Georgia

coverage area.

And now as he nears graduation, Rooks is

finishing out his stellar year at the old school

on the south end of Brunswick with a chance

to possibly win an individual state

championship in the high jump as he

competes with the boys track and field team

in postseason competition to round out his

prep career.

“No doubt. He’s just a natural athlete,” said

GA track coach Josh Veal. “He’s a great kid

who also works hard and he doesn’t like to lose.”

Rooks played several sports growing up

including basketball and also football for a

couple of years. He also played tennis as a

youngster, learning the game from his dad

Burnett Rooks, the longtime tennis coach at

Glynn who established the school’s boys and

girls programs as two of the best in this

section of the state.

Rooks continued to played tennis along with

basketball when he entered high school, but

he gave up tennis after his sophomore season

which was cut short by the start of the Covid-

19 pandemic in March 2020.

It was later that same year that Rooks was

playing football on the beach with friends and

first got the itch to play football again.

Still, though constantly being encouraged to

strap on the pads by Glynn coaches and other

players, Rooks didn’t accept the challenge

until late in his junior year when he decided

he would join the Terrors on the gridiron for

his upcoming senior year.

It turned out to be a life-altering choice for

him. Rooks picked up on the GA playbook

rather quickly along with grasping the basic

techniques required of a wide receiver and

defensive back and blossomed almost instantly.

Veal, who serves as the defensive coordinator

for the Red Terrors, figured Rooks could be a

major player for the team in almost no time.

“I knew he could cover with his footwork and

also his hips, but what I wasn’t sure about is

whether he would come up and stick

someone,” the GA coach said. “But, the first

practice, he came downhill and did it. I knew

he would be good then.”

Glynn head coach Rocky Hidalgo also was

thrilled with what he saw from the team’s

newest player from the get-go.

“We wanted him to play wide receiver and

also play in the secondary, and once we saw

him maneuver around in the secondary, we

knew he could could cover and be physical

back there.

“He was physically tough from day one, and

he worked like a football player. He was

willing to stick his nose in there and get

physical,” Hidalgo said.

Rooks was one of two primary targets for

Glynn’s quarterback as the Terrors started the

season looking to throw the ball more than

they had in the recent past. The other top

receiver for the team was sophomore David

Prince, another big-bodied kid who also plays

basketball for the Terrors.

Rooks opened the season as a starting

wideout and caught a touchdown pass in

Glynn’s opening game. He played in the

defensive backfield from the start, but

became a starter in the secondary for the

Terrors a few games into the season.

Rooks finished the season putting up modest

numbers on offense. He had 15 catches for

279 yards and three touchdowns for the

Terrors who lost to state runner-up Langston

Hughes in the first round of the Class AAAAAA

state playoffs.

His game against Hughes, which featured

several Division I prospects, caught the

attention of the college recruiters who got

hold of the film.

That night, Rooks finished with more than 120

receiving yards and caught a 61-yard pass for

a touchdown. Also on defense, he totaled

seven tackles and intercepted a pass.

Rooks was already on several schools’

recruiting boards before that mid-November

playoff game, but he began to blow up on the

recruiting scene in the coming days.

Rooks received five scholarship offers the very

next week, one on top of the other. He was

offered a scholarship by Robert Morris when

travelling to visit Chattanooga. The Mocs

offered him a scholarship on his visit with them.

On the way home from there, he received

another offer from Georgia Southern and was

asked to stop in Macon for a visit with Mercer

which also offered him in the short time he

was on campus. The next day, when back

home, Samford University also offered Rooks

a scholarship.

In all, Rooks entertained 13 official football

scholarship offers. He also was presented the

chance by Georgia to join the Bulldogs as a

preferred walk-on.

But the school he wound up choosing was

Illinois, where Hidalgo has a friend who

coaches with the Illini. They sent a coach to

Brunswick to see Rooks shortly after

reviewing his game film.

“They called and told us someone would be

here in a couple of days. They didn’t come

here to shop around. They came in to buy,”

Hidalgo said.

The Illini offered Rooks a scholarship, and

soon thereafter, he was on a plane to

Champaign for a campus visit in early

December. Rooks committed to the Big Ten

program on his visit and signed his letter of

intent to play for the Illiois in the December

early-signing period.

“I liked it a lot, and they really showed me the

love, more than a lot of the schools,” he said.

Rooks made the trip to Illinois the same

weekend the GA basketball team played an

early region game against rival Brunswick. The

Terrors managed a close win over the Pirates

without their star player.

GA coach Terrance Haywood didn’t like not

having Rooks on the floor for a big region

game, but he was always very supportive of

him playing football. In fact, he was among

those who had been prodding Rooks to play.

“A recruiter was here one day recruiting

someone else, and Tyson walked into the

cafeteria where we were, and the guy asked

who he was and if he played football. We told

him that’s Tyson Rooks but he didn’t play

football. The guy said they would have

recruited him on his size alone.

“Tyson’s long and athletic, can run and jump.

We told him he could go big-time if he played

football. I’m glad he decided to do it.”

Rooks was drawing some interest from

smaller schools for basketball, but he’s

actually not tall enough to play on the interior

in a major-college program.

He was dominant for the Terrors this season,

however, and in most games, he was clearly

the best-looking athlete on the court.

Rooks averaged 17.3 points a game while

shooting almost 54 percent from the field for

the season. He also averaged 6.7 rebounds a

game as Glynn advanced to the state

tournament.

“My game definitely improved this year,” he

said. “I trained a lot the last two years with

(former GA player) Bryan Hendley who is

really good. We worked on balance, shot-

form, ball-handling, all that.”

Rooks said playing football made him tougher

in the paint, too. “It’s a tough game and it

definitely made me tougher,” he said. “It

definitely brought out the dog in me.”

Haywood noticed a change in Rooks last

summer actually. “He had a different

mentality. He had that dog-mentality,”

Glynn’s coach said. “This was the kid we

always knew Tyson could be.”

Haywood believes that Rooks became more

competitive after participating in track and

field for the first time last spring.

“You’re out there competing against the other

guy,” Haywood said. “We saw his

competitiveness when he was out there, and

it continued over into basketball.”

Veal jokes about tricking Rooks into joining

the GA track team. He was attending the

occasional practice last spring to work on

footwork after deciding to play football as a senior.

They had him attempt to clear 5 feet, 8 inches

in the high jump one day and he did with ease

on natural ability alone. The next day, he

actually competed in the high jump in a team

meet and took second place.

Rooks was soon clearing the bar over 6 feet

and went on to finish sixth at state last May

while jumping 6-4. Rooks also ended up

running with two GA relay team last season.

“He was bored sitting around at meets. He

wanted to compete and asked what else he

could do. I told him I was just waiting on him

to ask whenever he was ready,” Veal said.

Currently, Rooks is competing in the high

jump along with the hurdles and also is a

member of Glynn’s 4x400-meter relay team.

His best jump to date in his main event is 6-6

which puts him among the state-title

contenders. Brunswick’s Riyon Rankin has

jumped as high as 7-foot this season which is

the best mark in the state to date.

“Tyson’s getting strong right now. Those two

push each other,” said Veal who believes

Rankin and Rooks could finish one-two at

state in either order.

Rooks, of course, will graduate from Glynn

later this month at Glynn County Stadium,

where the Terrors play their home football games.

He will leave the next day for Illinois to take

summer classes while also participating in

summer football workouts which begin June 2nd.

“I can’t wait,” Rooks said. “It’s going to be a

new experience.”

By John Dupont

Photography by Andrea Heflin

Bank on Fisher Crews’ success. Having first established himself as a proven commodity in the

classroom, the senior is also among the most viable personalities on Pierce County High

School’s extracurricular front. Whether scholastics, clubs, or sports, Crews is, quite frankly, one

who comes to mind when PCHS folk speak of excellence as the standard.

“Fisher has so many gifts,” says Brett Brooker, economics instructor at PCHS. “He provides

leadership on the golf course, in student government, and in FFA. The community is so fortunate to have such a successful student who demonstrates strong character and faith. Fisher’s great contributions to PCHS will last for years to come.”

The son of Taite and Kimberly Crews, he was ranked in the top two of his class of more than 200 as of the press deadline. Voted “Most Intellectual” among his peers, the UGA Merit Scholar has earned more than 30 college hours through dual enrollment. The current student council president, Fisher Crews also served as class president as a freshman, sophomore, and junior. His academic ledger also includes service on the PCHS Student Advisory Council and designation as a College Board National Rural Student.

Crews, who scored 1480 on the SAT, was named co-recipient of the 2020 Star Student Award at

PCHS. He chose his mother, a teacher at Pierce County Middle School, as Star Teacher.

Recently, Crews was also selected as Student of the Month by the Blackshear Exchange Club.

There he recognized Brooker and spoke of a mutual passion for economics. 

“Whether lectures, projects, group activities, or even tests, Coach Brooker always takes every

opportunity to teach,” said Crews. “Economics and a possible double major in Finance will best

prepare me for my future career path while allowing me to gain the necessary skills to truly make an impact on the world through economics. I plan on becoming an investment banker for three years before moving to private equity. As an investment banker I can help contribute to the

success of major companies which in return will improve society as a whole.” 

Still striving to reach his peak in endeavors like golf - which he has played since age four -

Crews has nonetheless experienced quite a bit of success on the links.   

“I have not played to my full potential, but my game is steadily improving,” he notes.  “I think

75 is my low this season. My all-time low was a 67 in a summer tournament and I shot 31 on the 

back nine in a tournament to come from three back to win by four.”

That’s a somewhat modest self-assessment when compared to PCHS head boys golf coach Corey

Lesseig’s take, who says his most indelible memory of Crews came during the athlete’s

freshman season on a putt that clinched the area tournament for the Bears. 

“He has been a solid contributor to a series of region and area championship teams since his

freshman year,” says Lesseig. “Fisher is a driven perfectionist and a goal-oriented student. On

the course, when he is focused and engaged, he is a fierce competitor.”

No stranger to championships, Crews competed in the region/area FFA Meat Evaluation and

Agricultural Sales competition this year. PCHS won both contests while Crews finished as the

top individual in the region/area in meat evaluation. His workmanship earns nothing but high praise from his advisor, John Ratlliff. 

"Fisher is simply one of the brightest students I have ever worked with,” says Ratliff. “He has such a high level of intelligence that most things come easy to him, but he likes to try new things and put himself in challenging situations. I think he knows these challenges will make him better in the future because life constantly puts us in new and demanding situations where we have to make quick and correct decisions. He is very comfortable being uncomfortable.& quot;

Recently Crews tapped Southern Methodist University as his college choice, having also applied at Georgia Tech, Michigan, and Vanderbilt.

 Ultimately, he says the decision to become a

Mustang hinged on alignment with his personal convictions. Additionally, Crews says he would

like to form charities and homeless shelters via investment banking. On the homefront, he is

already logging community service hours through Beta Club. Favorite charities include the DC

Downtown Food Ministry of Waycross. He attends Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear. 

“Fisher is the kind of kid you'd want as a friend and teammate in school, and as your financial advisor when you get older,” says Lesseig. “And one you will look back on when you are in your retirement rocker and thank the Almighty you had a chance to know back when.”