Alvin Brooks

MinerManiac · August 9, 2003

Rumor has it that Alvin Brooks has been hired as an assitant coach at UTEP. I would appreciate your thoughts and opinions on Brooks from his time at UNT. Thanks!

Go Miners!!!!

Harry · August 9, 2003

I think he's a class individual and a great recruiter. He will be missed at UNT. I think you guys got a good one. Good luck.

NT80 · August 9, 2003

From the UNT athletic site:

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Alvin Brooks

Former University of Houston head coach Alvin Brooks brings nearly two decades of collegiate coaching experience to North Texas on head coach Johnny Jones’ staff.

Brooks, who served as an assistant coach at Texas Tech the last two seasons, has enjoyed a long association with Jones that dates back 20 years ago when they both were collegiate players and competed against each other in the NCAA tournament.

After his playing career, Brooks first served as an assistant at Lamar and Houston before heading the Cougars program for five years and then joining the Red Raiders staff. "We are very fortunate to have a person joining our staff the caliber of Alvin Brooks who has coached at the Division I level as both a head coach and assistant," said Jones. "He not only is a great recruiter, but he has a great understanding of the game."

Brooks, 41, was an assistant coach at Lamar and Houston for 12 seasons before being named the Cougars’ head coach prior to the 1993-94 season. He was the UH head coach for five seasons, compiling an overall record of 54-84 that included a second-place finish in the old Southwest Conference in 1995-96 with a 17-10 record and 11-3 league record.

He spent one year out of coaching before joining the Raiders’ staff two years ago.

A Texas native who has spent his entire coaching career in the state, Brooks was the starting point guard on Lamar’s 1979-80 team that advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. Brooks first met Jones in the 1981 NCAA tournament in a second-round match-up between Lamar and LSU, where Jones starred in the Tigers’ backcourt.

After graduating from Lamar in 1981, Brooks began his coaching career as a graduate assistant on the Cardinals’ staff that following season. He coached at Lamar for five seasons before joining the Houston staff in 1986. Prior to the 1993-94 season, Brooks was picked as just the fourth head coach in Houston history.

"I’m excited about joining the North Texas staff and the opportunities that are here," Brooks said. "We have a very experienced staff. I’m glad to be a part of it and I think we’ll have the chance to do some exciting things at North Texas."

Brooks is a former standout player from Wheatley High School in Houston, where he earned all-city and All-Great Houston honors as a senior when he averaged 25.9 points and 9.0 assists.

He started his collegiate career at Sam Houston State, where he was named Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year after setting the school’s single-season assist record with 165. He attended Henderson County Junior College his sophomore season before transferring to Lamar in 1979. As a junior he helped lead the Cardinals to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament.

Brooks was a second team all-Southland Conference pick as a senior, when he set a school record for most assists in a game (21), season (249) and career (432).

He was drafted by the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs in 1981, but opted to return to his alma mater to being his coaching career.