Mark Pope received universal praise when he poached Alvin Brooks III from Baylor to join his inaugural coaching staff. Brooks is so well-liked that another school wants him to be their head coach.
Will Kunkel, a sports reporter at Houston’s FOX affiliate, shared the names of three candidates for the Stephen F. Austin head coaching vacancy: Texas Tech assistant Jeff Linder, former Wichita State head coach Isaac Brown, and Kentucky assistant Alvin Brooks lll.
Stephen F. Austin is about two hours from Brooks’ hometown of Houston. Brad Underwood took the Lumberjacks to three straight NCAA Tournaments from 2014-16. Underwood’s successor, Kyle Keller won 28 games twice, but only advanced to the Big Dance in 2018. Keller was fired after an 8-11 start this season.
If this feels familiar, it’s because it is. John Calipari hired an assistant with ties to Texas. K.T. Turner only lasted one season before accepting the head coaching position at UT Arlington. These circumstances are significantly different.
First and foremost, folks were jumping the Calipari ship at any given opportunity. Pope has a high approval rating and Brooks is his top recruiter. That’s a valuable position worth $825,000 next year. Keller made less than half of that, $390,000, in 2023 at Stephen F. Austin. Financially, it doesn’t make sense.
There’s one other thing I’d like to add. Local TV reporters are great people who rarely break news. It’s wise to be skeptical of the source of information, even though I don’t know Will Kunkel from Adam Kunkel.
It’s a good thing when Kentucky’s top assistant coaches are in the mix for head coaching jobs. Alvin Brooks III is certainly on a trajectory to take his career to the head coaching ranks, and the state of Texas makes sense for his next destination, but Big Blue Nation shouldn’t lose any sleep over the Stephen F. Austin vacancy.
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