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Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope is adding Baylor assistant Alvin Brooks III to his staff, sources told ESPN, a significant move to land Scott Drew’s top assistant.
Brooks has worked under Drew in Waco since 2016, helping build the Bears into one of the nation’s most consistent programs. While he was on staff, Baylor won the 2021 national championship and landed a pair of top-five recruiting classes.
He played a key role in landing a top-10 prospect in each of the past three recruiting classes: Keyonte George (No. 6 in 2022), Ja’Kobe Walter (No. 8 in 2023) and V.J. Edgecombe (No. 3 in 2024). Brooks is an adept recruiter, with the Houston native possessing deep ties in Texas.
Prior to joining Drew’s staff in 2016, he worked under Bruce Weber at Kansas State for four years. Brooks, the son of Lamar coach Alvin Brooks II, also spent time on staffs at Sam Houston State, Bradley, Midland College (JC) and Arkansas-Fort Smith (D-II).
Pope has now finalized his primary assistant coach positions, with Brooks joining Cody Fueger, who Pope brought with him from BYU, and Jason Hart, who has been the head coach of the G League Ignite since 2021 but previously established himself as one of the best assistant coaches in the country at USC.
Mark Fox, who was a head coach at Cal, Georgia and Nevada, is expected to join the staff in a non-recruiting position.