Kenny_Brooks
Kenny Brooks
American basketball player and coach (born 1968)
Kenny Brooks (born December 20, 1968) is the head coach of the University of Kentucky women's basketball team.[1][2][3]
Brooks in 2024 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Kentucky |
| Conference | SEC |
| Record | 0–0 (–) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1968-12-20) December 20, 1968 (age 55) Waynesboro, Virginia |
| Playing career | |
| 1988–1991 | James Madison |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1994–1998 | VMI (men's asst.) |
| 1998–2002 | James Madison (men's asst.) |
| 2002–2003 | James Madison (women's asst.) |
| 2003–2016 | James Madison |
| 2016–2024 | Virginia Tech |
| 2024–present | Kentucky |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 517–204 (.717) |
| Tournaments | NCAA: 7–10 WNIT: 20–7 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
| Awards | |
| |
| Records | |
| |
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Brooks played his collegiate basketball for the James Madison Dukes basketball program.
After serving as the interim head coach for the 2002–03 season, Brooks was introduced as the James Madison University women's basketball head coach on March 21, 2003.
During the 2013–14 season, the James Madison University women's basketball team upset the 6-seed Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament. It was JMU's first NCAA tournament victory since 1991.
Brooks has the most regular season game victories in James Madison's women's basketball program history (337), having surpassed Shelia Moorman (302) in 2015. Brooks was the head coach when the James Madison University women's basketball team became the third school in NCAA women's basketball history to win 1,000 program games. He twice tied the school record for most wins in a single season with 29 (2011–12 and 2013–14).
On February 6, 2015, James Madison beat Hofstra University, (77–68), giving Brooks his 300th career win.
On March 28, 2016, Brooks accepted the position of head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies women's basketball team. Brooks helped guide the program to many firsts, including the ACC tournament championship, the Sweet Sixteen, the Elite Eight, the Final Four, and a 30-win season all which were accomplished during the 2022–23 season. For the first time in program history, the Hokies won the ACC regular season title during the 2023–2024 season. He achieved his 500th career win as head coach while with the program.
On March 26, 2024, after eight seasons with Virginia Tech, Brooks resigned from his position and accepted a five-year, $7.7 million contract with Kentucky, making him the third highest paid women's basketball coach in the Southeastern Conference behind only LSU's Kim Mulkey and South Carolina's Dawn Staley.[4]
Final Four
In 2023, Brooks achieved two college basketball coaching milestones. He coached his first team to a thirty win season, and his team made it to the final four of the woman's basketball tournament. Virginia Tech won their first two games in the 2023 Women's NCAA Tournament by double digits, then faced Tennessee in the regional semi final. The Hokies had 29 wins after the first two rounds of the tournament. The game against Tennessee started very well, with Virginia Tech achieving a 13 point lead (35 – 22) at halftime, then starting the second half with five straight points to open up an 18 point lead. Tennessee responded, cutting the lead to 9 points at the end of the third quarter and continued cutting into the lead, reducing the deficit to a single point at 53–52. The Hokies fought back and extended the lead to 11 points with just over two minutes remaining in the game. Virginia Tech ended up with the win, pushing their season win total to 30 wins for the first time in Brooks' career and resulting in the first time Virginia Tech has advanced to the elite eight game.[5]
The elite eight game was against the Ohio State team that knocked UConn out of their quest for a 15th consecutive Final Four. Both teams led at times in the first half, with Virginia Tech clinging to a slim three point lead at halftime 48–45. Although Ohio State would cut the lead to a single point early in the third quarter, the Hokies never relinquished the lead and ended up with the win 84–74 to advance Brooks and Virginia Tech to their first ever Final Four. [6][7]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Madison (Colonial Athletic Association) (2002–2016) | |||||||||
| 2002–03 | James Madison | 16–10 | 11–7 | 4th | |||||
| 2003–04 | James Madison | 13–18 | 7–10 | 7th | |||||
| 2004–05 | James Madison | 18–11 | 10–8 | 4th | |||||
| 2005–06 | James Madison | 24–7 | 14–4 | 2nd | WNIT First Round | ||||
| 2006–07 | James Madison | 27–6 | 16–2 | 2nd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2007–08 | James Madison | 24–10 | 14–4 | 2nd | WNIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2008–09 | James Madison | 24–10 | 14–4 | 3rd | WNIT Second Round | ||||
| 2009–10 | James Madison | 26–7 | 13–5 | 2nd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2010–11 | James Madison | 26–8 | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2011–12 | James Madison | 29–8 | 14–4 | 2nd | WNIT Runner-up | ||||
| 2012–13 | James Madison | 25–11 | 15–3 | 2nd | WNIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2013–14 | James Madison | 29–6 | 15–1 | 1st | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2014–15 | James Madison | 29–4 | 17–1 | 1st | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2015–16 | James Madison | 27–6 | 17–1 | 1st | NCAA First Round | ||||
| James Madison University: | 337–122 (.734) | 193–56 (.775) | |||||||
| Virginia Tech (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2016–2024) | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | Virginia Tech | 20–14 | 4–12 | T-11th | WNIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2017–18 | Virginia Tech | 23–14 | 6–10 | T-9th | WNIT Runner-up | ||||
| 2018–19 | Virginia Tech | 22–12 | 6–10 | 10th | WNIT Third Round | ||||
| 2019–20 | Virginia Tech | 21–9 | 11–7 | T-4th | Postseason cancelled | ||||
| 2020–21 | Virginia Tech | 15–10 | 8–8 | 7th | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2021–22 | Virginia Tech | 23–10 | 13–5 | T-3rd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2022–23 | Virginia Tech | 31–5 | 14–4 | T-2nd | NCAA Final Four | ||||
| 2023–24 | Virginia Tech | 25–8 | 14–4 | 1st | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| Virginia Tech: | 180–82 (.687) | 76–60 (.559) | |||||||
| Kentucky (SEC) (2024–present) | |||||||||
| 2024–25 | Kentucky | 0–0 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Kentucky: | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | |||||||
| Total: | 517–204 (.717) | ||||||||
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National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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- "James Madison University Athletics – 2014–15 Women's Basketball Coaching Staff". jmusports.com. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
- Jeff Malmgremm. "Basketball coach calls Gwathmey 'as talented as anyone' at James Madison over past decade". Fauquier. Retrieved 2 February 2015 – via Highbeam.
- "Brooks named women's basketball head coach at Kentucky". Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- Caroline Makauskas (April 1, 2024). "Breaking down Kenny Brooks' Kentucky contract details. Here's how much he'll make". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
- "Virginia Tech 73-64 Tennessee (Mar 25, 2023) Game Recap". ESPN. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- "Virginia Tech 84-74 Ohio State (Mar 27, 2023) Game Recap". ESPN. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- "Virginia Tech 84-74 Ohio State (Mar 27, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 2023-11-15.