Kenny Brooks - Women's Basketball Coach - James Madison University Athletics

Kenny Brooks

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
brookskr@jmu.edu
Phone:
540-568-6513
Physical Address:
Convo 115 (895 University Blvd.) / MSC 4702

Updated March 30, 2016:

Kenny Brooks increased his lead as the all-time winningest coach in JMU women’s basketball history in his 14th year at the helm of James Madison women’s basketball in 2015-16.

Brooks became the all-time winningest coach (No. 303) on Feb. 15, 2015, with a 94-64 home win over Delaware. He upped his all-time record to 337-122, guiding the Dukes to a third consecutive CAA Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

In 2015-16, Brooks guided the Dukes to a third consecutive CAA Championship as they headed into the NCAA tournament on a 20-game win streak, the longest of his career. JMU has also won 16 straight games at the Convocation Center. Brooks earned his third straight CAA Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Dukes to a 17-1 mark in league play. He helped redshirt senior guard Jazmon Gwathmey to her first CAA Player of the Year honor and third consecutive CAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player award, as well as freshman center Kayla Cooper-Williams to the CAA Rookie of the Year title.

The 2015-16 season marked the 11th straight season the Dukes reached 24 or more wins and the 11th straight year they appeared in the postseason. As a team, the Dukes headed into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 11 seed for the Dallas Region and opened the first round in Louisville, Ky. against sixth-seeded DePaul. This was the sixth time Brooks guided the Dukes to the Big Dance during his tenure.

To earn their third straight CAA title, the Dukes had a come-from-behind victory against No. 8 College of Charleston in the quarterfinals before taking down No. 5 Delaware in the semifinals and No. 2 Drexel in the finals.

Overall, JMU has gone 58-3 against CAA foes over the last three seasons of regular season and tournament games combined.

A season before, JMU tied a school record for total wins (29) while setting school records for regular-season wins (26) and regular-season CAA wins (17). Brooks saw the Dukes appear in both national polls during the 2014-15 season, climbing to No. 23 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, their highest ranking since being No. 14 on April 1, 1991.

In addition to his personal mark, Brooks guided JMU to the 1000th win in program history on Jan. 6. The Dukes became just the third program in NCAA history to reach the millennium mark with a 74-57 win over UNCW at the Convocation Center.

The Dukes appeared as the No. 12 seed in the Greensboro Regional in 2015, taking on No. 5 Ohio State in Chapel Hill, N.C., in their 10th consecutive appearance in the postseason (2006-15). In 2013-14, Brooks led the Dukes to their first NCAA Tournament victory since 1991 when JMU, the No. 11 seed in
College Station (Texas), knocked off sixth-seeded Gonzaga 72-63 in the first round.

Brooks saw several Dukes recognized on the national stage during the 2014-15 season with one WNBA draft selection and two national watch list honorees. On April 16, Lauren Okafor became just the second Duke drafted when the Atlanta Dream selected her in the third round with the 34th overall pick. During the season, Angela Mickens made it to the Final 15 Watch List for the Nancy Lieberman Award and Precious Hall appeared on the Naismith Trophy Midseason 30 Watch List.

Brooks has coached six CAA Players of the Year (Meredith Alexis ’07, Tamera Young ’08, Dawn Evans ’11, Kirby Burkholder ’14, Precious Hall ’15, Jazmon Gwathmey ‘16). Tamera Young (JMU ’08) was a first-round WNBA Draft Pick and Lauren Okafor (JMU ‘15) was a third-round selection while Dawn Evans (JMU ’11), Tarik Hislop (JMU’13), Kirby Burkholder (JMU ’14) and Toia Giggetts (JMU ’15) each signed professional contracts after graduation.

Under Brooks’ guidance, Mickens set a school record for single-season assists in 2014-15, dishing out 250 assists over 33 games. That season, she posted double-digit assists on five different occasions, the first Duke to do so, and came just one assist shy of the program’s first triple double (10 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists) in the regular-season finale. As a senior, she has pushed her career total to 669, just one off the school record (670, Jess Cichowicz).

Gwathmey moved into eighth on the JMU career scoring chart (1,555) under Coach Brooks’ guidance. Overall, eight of the top nine all-time scorers in JMU history (Evans, Young, Hislop, Alexis, Burkholder, Lesley Dickinson, Hall) were all coached by Coach Brooks.

His players also hold the top four spots on JMU’s all-time rebounds list (Alexis, Young, Burkholder, Nikki Newman), the top 10 spots on the career games played chart (Newman, Hislop, Burkholder, Gwathmey, Courtney Hamner, Kisha Stokes, Jalissa Taylor, Young, Sarah Williams, Evans) and five of the top six spots on the career blocked shots chart (Newman, Okafor, Jazmon Gwathmey, Alexis, Lauren Whitehurst).

Year by Year at JMU
Season, Record, CAA Tournament, Postseason
2002-03, 16-10, Semifinalist
2003-04, 13-18, Quarterfinalist
2004-05, 18-11, Semifinalist
2005-06, 24-7, Runner-up, WNIT First Round
2006-07, 27-6, Runner-up, NCAA First Round
2007-08, 24-10, Semifinalist, WNIT Third Round
2008-09, 24-10, Runner-up, WNIT Second Round
2009-10, 26-7, Champion, NCAA First Round
2010-11, 26-8, Champion, NCAA First Round
2011-12, 29-8, Semifinalist, WNIT Runner-up
2012-13, 25-11, Semifinalist, WNIT Fourth Round (Quarterfinals)
2013-14, 29-6, Champion, NCAA Second Round
2014-15, 29-4, Champion, NCAA First Round
2015-16, 27-6, Champion, NCAA First Round
Total, 337-122, .734

Kenny Brooks' Journey
* Grew up in nearby Waynesboro, Va.
* Honorable mention all-state basketball player at Waynesboro High School
* Graduated from Waynesboro High School in 1987
* Recruited by John Thurston to play at JMU
* Played three seasons (1988-91) at JMU under the legendary "Lefty" Driesell
* Member of two Dukes' teams that finished first in CAA regular-season play (1990, 1991)
* Played in two National Invitation Tournaments (1990, 1991)
* Graduated in 1992 with a degree in business management
* Part-time assistant coach for JMU’s 1993-94 men’s team that won the CAA Tournament and advanced to NCAA play
* Assistant coach at Virginia Military for four seasons (1994-98)
* Married the former Chrissy Stewart in 1998
* Assistant coach in JMU men’s program for four seasons (1998-2002)
* Switched to the JMU women's program as an assistant coach in 2002
* Named interim head coach on Dec. 6, 2002, when head coach Bud Childers was granted a leave of absence for medical reasons
* Named head coach on March 21, 2003
* Family includes daughters Kendyl, Chloe and Gabby and son Nicholas
* Celebrated his 45th birthday in December 2013