By Shawn Nowlin
Of the 65 NCAA Power 5 basketball schools in women’s college hoops, only one has a Black male head coach: Virginia Tech’s Kenny Brooks.
Since accepting the post in March 2016, Brooks has accumulated a record of 151 victories and 73 losses for a 67.4 winning percentage. This season started with a 104 to 45 victory on Nov. 13 over Mount St. Mary’s and ended in the Final Four with a loss to eventual national champion LSU, 79 to 72. Overall, the team lost just five games out of 36 contests.
Prior to his arrival, the program never advanced past the Sweet 16, reaching that milestone in 1999.
More than a coach, Brooks, 54, considers himself a father figure to his players. While he holds them accountable, he also makes sure they know they are all more than just athletes. Known for his outgoing personality, Brooks is such a fan of the film Jurassic Park he revealed to his players that this is the reason drives a Ford F150 Raptor.
At the height of the George Floyd protests in 2020, Brooks galvanized his girls and shared personal stories from his past. “I consider my role to be that of a teacher,” he said during an ACC interview last year. “I was frank in discussing life as a Black man in America. Those kinds of conversations brought us together as a team.”
A native of Waynesboro, Virginia, Brooks played collegiate basketball at James Madison University, graduating in 1991. Brooks coached his alma mater for 14 years before coming to Virginia Tech. Despite winning 337 games en route to multiple conference titles and a 73.4 winning percentage, it took Brooks a while before a Power 5 institution gave him an opportunity.
Oftentimes, Black college coaches get labeled as just recruiters. Brooks dispelled that myth in the affirmative this year. Led by two-time ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley, the Lady Hokies were ranked throughout the entire season and praised for their acumen on both sides of the ball.
The team’s 2023 tournament run will go down in the history books: a 58 to 33 victory over #16 Chattanooga; a 72 to 60 victory over #9 South Dakota State; a 73 to 64 over #4 Tennessee and an 84 to 74 victory over #3 Ohio State before losing to the Lady Tigers.
Against LSU, Tech was able to connect on nine 3-pointers but shot just 40 percent from the floor. Additionally, LSU had more offensive rebounds, steals, and forced turnovers.
When the team returned to Blacksburg from Dallas, they were greeted by dozens of fans. Kitley, the team’s top WNBA prospect, announced shortly thereafter that she will return for her senior campaign. Fortunately for Hokie Nation, most of the roster is also eligible to return next year. All signs point to Virginia Tech sustaining its level of consistency for many seasons to come.
UVA legend Ralph Sampson and Hokies legend Dell Curry, both close friends of Brooks, have both publicly praised him for the impressive job he did this year.
Longtime Hokies fan Desmond Clark wholeheartedly agrees with that sentiment, explaining, “Kudos to Virginia Tech for giving Coach Brooks an opportunity. It is hard to believe that he is the only Black male coach at the top level of women’s college basketball. Hopefully, other schools will see this and give other deserving individuals a chance too.”
