Stephen Robert Brooks (November 18, 1950 – December 18, 2022) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Arkansas State Red Wolves The Arkansas State Red Wolves are the athletic teams of Arkansas State University. They are a member of the Sun Belt Conference in all sports except women's Ten-pin bowling, bowling, a sport not sponsored by that league, competing at the National ...

from 1969 to 1974 and was the Southland Player of the Year in 1974. Brooks was selected by the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

in the

1974 NBA draft The 1974 NBA draft was the 28th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and was held on May 28, 1974, before the 1974–75 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and ot ...

and played professionally overseas.

Early life and college career

Brooks was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, as the oldest of four sons to parents Robert and Shirley. He attended McCluer High School in

Florissant, Missouri Florissant () is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, Missouri, within Greater St. Louis. It is a middle-class, second-ring northern suburb of St. Louis. Based on the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population ...

. Brooks accepted a full scholarship to attend

Arkansas State University Arkansas State University (A-State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. It is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System and the second-largest university in the st ...

and play for the

. He was selected to the All-

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

second-team in 1971 and first-team in 1972. Brooks did not play during the 1972–73 season. He was awarded as the

Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year The Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the Southland Conference's (SLC) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the conference's inaugural basketball season of 1963–64. Five players ...

and selected to the All-Southland first-team in 1974. Brooks ranks ninth on Arkansas State's career scoring list and sixth on the career rebounds list. He was inducted into the Arkansas State University Athletics Hall of Honor in 1995. Brooks was named to the Southland Conference 1970s All-Decade Team in 2013.

Professional playing career

Brooks was selected in the 8th round of the

by the

. He was selected in the fifth round of the 1974

ABA ABA may refer to: Aviation * AB Aerotransport, former Scandinavian airline * IATA airport code for Abakan International Airport in Republic of Khakassia, Russia Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, Uni ...

draft by the

Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving to ...

. Brooks played professionally in Italy and the Philippines before he decided to focus on private business.

Later career

Brooks was an entrepreneur and worked in the security, hardware and hospitality industries for 45 years. He was the senior vice president of three businesses in St. Louis for over 20 years. He relocated to Florida where he founded his final business, a hotel operating supplies company, at the age of 60.

Personal life

Brooks was married to his wife for 50 years and had two sons. He was a member of Salem United Methodist Church in St. Louis and Journey Christian Church in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. Brooks died on December 18, 2022, in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

References

External links

College statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Steve 1950 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball players Arkansas State Red Wolves men's basketball players Basketball players from St. Louis Centers (basketball) Houston Rockets draft picks Utah Stars draft picks