"Huge," "Tremendous": National reactions to Alvin Brooks III joining Kentucky's staff
The news that Alvin Brooks III is leaving Baylor to be Mark Pope’s associate head coach at Kentucky was the perfect way to start the day. Brooks’ track record as a recruiter is proven through five-star prospects like Keyonte George, Ja’Kobe Walter, and VJ Edgecombe, but if you need further proof that this is a home run hire, the national media has been raving about it all day. What better way to celebrate the good news than reading their comments?
Let’s start with the reporter who broke the news, Matt Norlander. Norlander — who has become the Adam Schefter of college basketball in recent months — said Brooks made the decision to leave Baylor late Tuesday night after touring Lexington with his family. While discussing the move on CBS Sports HQ, Norlander said family played a huge role in Brooks’ decision.
“The irony here, of course, is that Kentucky couldn’t convince Baylor’s head coach to leave, but it did convince Baylor’s top assistant to leave for Lexington. Brooks carries a tremendous reputation, has been a critical piece on that staff, was obviously on staff when Baylor won the national championship in 2021, so it’s a move that’s being made for a couple of reasons. One, being the family aspect for Alvin Brooks was a major one.”
Brooks joins former BYU assistant Cody Fueger and former G League Ignite head coach Jason Hart, whose hires were announced by UK on Monday. Former Georgia head coach Mark Fox is expected to be announced as another staff member later this week, leaving one spot up for grabs. Norlander said it will “be a little while” before Pope decides who to hire. Right now, he and his staff need to focus on recruiting.
“His addition is huge,” Norlander said of Brooks. “I’d say Pope has done a pretty good job overall with the staff. It’s a really, really strong staff and now they have to focus in on getting more players on the roster because as we speak, Kentucky only has three guys signed to play there. That will change over the next week or so as Kentucky is involved with some very, very big names.”
Pope and his staff are expected to host Saint Mary’s transfer Aidan Mahaney this weekend and Utah State transfer Great Osobor early next week.
There may be no bigger college basketball insider right now than Trilly Donovan, who anonymously breaks coaching and recruiting news on Twitter and Discord. Add him to the list of Brooks’ admirers, along with CJ Moore and Jeff Goodman.
In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a national media member who is not a fan of Brooks, or Pope’s other hires, thus far. Honestly, all this good press from the bigwigs feels weird after years of digs and disdain for John Calipari. Are we cool in their eyes again? Are we about to get 10,000-word features on Pope’s rebuild and Lee Anne’s home-baked cookies on ESPN and CBS Sports? Do I need to worry about Goodman, Norlander, and Gary Parrish taking our spots on press row?!
Mark Pope says Fueger, Hart are “dangerous” together
In addition to building a staff and team, Pope is making time for the media this week. On Friday, he’ll make his first appearance on Kentucky Sports Radio. Yesterday, he talked to Ben Roberts to talk about his frantic first week and a half on the job. I’ll direct you to the Herald-Leader to read it all, as it’s well worth your time, but here are some of Pope’s comments about Cody Fueger and Jason Hart. (Keep in mind, he can’t publicly comment on Brooks or Fox until their hires are official.)
“I’ll tell you the thing I’m most excited about,” Pope said, boundless energy in his voice. “Watching Cody and Jason in the last 36 hours — those two together are dangerous. I’m telling you, it’s really dangerous. This is the ‘artistic’ part of the mix. Those guys are both super humble. They’re both incredible experts in their field. Like on a nationwide level — experts in their field. They both have very distinct personalities. And we’ve already been in a bunch of arguments and confrontations and trying to work things out. And seeing those guys interact together, you’re like, ‘That’s what a team is, man.’ Because, already, a day in, you can see how they just riff off each other, and it feels natural.
“And they’re not the same guy. They’re very different guys. And the chemistry is brilliant. And that’s what we’re searching for on our staff. Is to find something where there’s a synergy, where the whole is way bigger than the sum of the parts. And I can feel that from those guys early on.”
Mark Pope, Herald-Leader
Awesome stuff. Let’s get Brooks back in town and really get to work.
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