WACO, Texas – Baylor men’s basketball has hired Alvin Brooks III as an assistant coach, head coach Scott Drew announced Friday. Brooks joins the Baylor staff after spending the last four seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas State.
“Alvin’s extraordinary work ethic, dedication to his family and strong character make him a perfect fit for Baylor Nation,” Drew said. “He coached at Sam Houston State, played and coached at Midland College, and he won a pair of National Championships as an assistant coach at Arkansas-Fort Smith and Midland, so he knows what it takes to win championships. Alvin also has four years of experience in the Big 12 Conference, where he helped lead Kansas State to a conference title. He’s got tremendous knowledge of both the state of Texas and the Big 12, and the name Alvin Brooks carries great value in this state, so we’re excited to bring a native Texan and his family back home.”
“It’s a great opportunity for my wife and I, and our two young kids, to get closer to our immediate family in Texas, so it’s definitely a blessing,” Brooks said. “I think it’s a great advantage having been in the Big 12 Conference, and knowing all of the players and how many great coaches are in the Big 12, so the only adjustment will be working with a different coaching staff at Baylor.”
A Houston, Texas, native, Brooks brings 12 years of experience as an assistant coach at numerous collegiate levels. He began his coaching career at the junior college level, spending two years as an assistant coach at Arkansas-Fort Smith (2004-06), where he helped lead the Lions to the 2006 NJCAA Division I championship. He then spent one season on former Baylor assistant coach Grant McCasland’s staff at Midland College (2006-07), where he again won the NJCAA Division I championship.
Brooks then moved to the NCAA Division I level, where he spent three years as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Bradley (2007-10), and then returned to his home state for two years as an assistant coach at Sam Houston State (2010-12).
Brooks joined Bruce Weber’s staff at Kansas State prior to the 2012-13 season. He helped the Wildcats to one of the best stretches in school history with 79 wins and NCAA?Tournament appearances in two of the last four seasons. Brooks also played a major role in K-State’s first-ever Big 12 regular-season title in 2012-13, which included the second-most wins (27) and a tie for the most conference victories (14) in school history. In addition, Brooks helped coach 10 players named to All-Big 12 teams while at K-State.
Brooks played two seasons at Midland College (1998-2000), where he helped the Chapparals to a sixth-place finish in the 2000 NJCAA national tournament before transferring to Idaho State. He played two years for the Bengals (2000-02), earning Academic All-Big Sky honors as a senior in 2002. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance in 2002 and his master’s degree in athletics administration in 2003, both from Idaho State.
Brooks is the son of former Houston head coach Alvin Brooks II, who has been a college basketball coach for over 30 years. He was the Cougars’ first African-American head coach, leading the school to 54 wins from 1993-98. After stints with Billy Gillispie at UTEP, Texas A&M and Kentucky, the elder Brooks returned to Houston in 2010 to serve as associate head coach under former Texas Tech head coach James Dickey and remained on staff with the hiring of Kelvin Sampson.
Brooks married the former Tiffany Wafer in August 2012. The couple has two children – Alvin Joseph Brooks IV – born on July 10, 2014 and Austin Jay Brooks – born on Oct. 26, 2015.
