How Keion Brooks Jr. Went From Kentucky to UW

The talented forward had a connection with PJ Fuller and made another with the Husky coaching staff.

One gets the idea that Kentucky just rolls the ball out on the floor and lets a multitude of exquisitely talented basketball players fight over it, and then it's on to the NBA.

It works for some, but not for Keion Brooks Jr. He wanted more than that, something tangible.

So after three seasons at the SEC school, how did he end up at the University of Washington, leaving the Bluegrass state behind and forsaking the pros for now?

One, Brooks knew Husky guard PJ Fuller from his basketball travels, since they were 13- or 14-year-old kids. 

Two, UW assistant coach Will Conroy closed this deal like a smooth-talking developer putting up a downtown high-rise.

Keion Brooks Jr. sets up a Weber State player before making his move / Skylar Lin Visuals

What Brooks didn't say was the coach Mike Hopkins and the Huskies likely suggested they would make him the centerpiece of this team similar to Terrell Brown, the Pac-12's leading scorer, the year before.

Yes, the 6-foot-7 forward from Fort Wayne, Indiana, would become another Brown, only four inches taller, always attacking the basket. 

This was on full display on Monday night when he led all scorers with 20 points and added 7 rebounds in a 69-52 victory over Weber State at Alaska Airlines Arena.

"Coach Conroy was tremendous in recruiting me and my family," Brooks said. "I knew they had PJ. I knew how good he was and how talented he was. That was also kind of what pulled me here. When I got on the phone with Coach Hop, that kind of sealed the deal."

Brooks, who was an All-SEC academic honoree, speaks softly and answers questions with  a great deal of thought. He was a team captain at Kentucky. He is no babbling Brooks. He wanted more from the cerebral side of basketball. 

"I just knew I could fit here," he said. "I see it had a family vibe and I wanted to be part of it."

Brooks started 42 of 80 games and averaged 4.5, 10.3 and 10.8 points per game in each season. Yet he seemed to think he was wasting away in Lexington.

UW players scurry to help Keion Brooks Jr. off the floor.  / Skylar Lin Visuals

He is the second former Kentucky player to become part of the Husky program over the past three seasons, following point guard Quade Green to Montlake, who's now in the G League. 

The difference is, the Wildcats had sort of moved on from Green. That wasn't the case with Brooks, who was still highly valued but felt he wasn't progressing enough on John Calipari's team. 

"I'm a ballplayer," Brooks said. "I just want to get 1 percent better every day. They told me they'd help me find myself again, find the love that I had before, when I was playing like myself and being a better version of myself."

So he came to the UW seeking an emotional boost in his final season of college basketball that hopefully will help carry him to the game's next level.

"I forgot how good I really was for sure," Brooks said. "Coach Hopkins does a great job of pouring love and confidence into all of his players. That's something I wanted to be a part of, something I needed."

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley