Final Four: Brooks Family Affair

With the Final Four stage set, no matter the outcome, history will be made during the Baylor vs University of Houston game. Houston assistant coach, Alvin Brooks II, and Baylor assistant coach, Alvin Brooks III, will go head-to-head on Saturday, making them the first father-son duo to ever coach against each other in the Final Four.

Who are the Brooks’? Both Brooks II and III are Houston natives who have been involved with the game for over 35 years.

Brooks II attended Wheatley High School, before moving on to Lamar University where he would later be inducted into the Cardinal Hall of Fame. After his playing career ended, he landed positions on coaching staffs at the following universities: Lamar, Houston, Texas Tech, North Texas, UTEP, Texas A&M, and the University of Kentucky. He became the first African American head coach at the University of Houston from 1993 to 1998. After serving as the Director of Operations at the University of Kentucky from 2007-2009, Brooks (II) came back to the University of Houston and has been there ever since.

As for Brooks III, he attended both Yates High School and Katy Taylor before he played college basketball at Midland Junior College and Idaho State. Brooks (III) began his coaching career on the junior college level where he served as an assistant coach at Arkansas-Fort Smith before joining the coaching staff at Midland College. After assisting a year at Midland, Brooks would go on to coach at Bradley, Sam Houston State, and Kansas State before landing an assistant coaching job at Baylor in 2016.

This is something many people dream of, but something the Brooks knew was a possibility as soon as the brackets came out. Both teams had to win their region to get in this position, but what better place to play against family than in the Final Four. A dream come true? I would say so! No matter the outcome, a Brooks will be playing for the National Title come Monday night and that makes for a happy ending.