Jan. 16, 2025

LAMAR’S ALVIN BROOKS EARNS MID-SEASON HONORS
The Lamar alumnus leads the Cardinals to best conference start in 25 years

BOSTON, MA -- Lamar University head coach Alvin Brooks is the recipient of the Ben Jobe award ‘Mid-Season’ honors. The award is presented annually to the top minority head coach in division I college basketball.

Brooks, who was hired on April 1, 2021, has led the Cardinals to their best start in conference play since the 1999-2000 season.  The Cardinals are one of the top defensive teams in the Southland, holding opponents to 67.5 points per game. They are also among the top rebounding teams with 38.2 per contest and assist/turnover ratio with 1.33.

One of the all-time great players in Lamar basketball history, Brooks was the point guard from 1979-81 and helped the Cardinals to 47 wins – including three NCAA tournament wins, consecutive SLC titles and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. In just two short seasons with the Cardinals, Brooks became the school’s all-time leader in assists with 432 – a mark which still ranks second in program history. Brooks averaged better than 10 points per game during his senior season and set the school single season record with 249 assists.

“Alvin Brooks is a proven winner and one of the best people in the business,” said Angela Lento, Vice President of College Insider. “It took a couple of seasons, but Alvin now has a program that looks like a perennial contender in the Southland Conference. This is the best team he’s had, and they look postseason worthy in 2025.”

A college coaching veteran with 40 years’ experience on the sidelines, Brooks has participated in 23 postseason tournaments as a coach or student-athlete – including most recently serving as an assistant on a Houston squad that advanced to the 2021 Final Four in Indianapolis.

During his career, Brooks has helped coach teams to seven conference championships, including two with LU (1982-83 and 1983-84). The list of conference titles that Brooks has been a part of includes the 1983 and 1984 Southland Conference (LU), 1992 Southwestern Conference Co-Champions and SWC Classic Champions (Houston), 2004 WAC Co-Champions (UTEP) and the 2019 and 2020 American Athletic Conference titles (Houston).

The Ben Jobe Award is named in honor of one the most iconic coaches in the history of basketball at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He is best known as the head coach of Southern University, a position he held for 12 seasons. He was also head coach at Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Talladega, Tuskegee, and South Carolina State.

His record at Southern was 209-141 and included four NCAA Tournament appearances. He also coached the Jaguars to one NIT appearance, five SIAC championships, 11 SWAC titles and two NAIA Tournament Championships. Perhaps his most memorable moment as a coach was leading No. 15 seed Southern to a 93-78 win over No. 2 Georgia Tech in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament. It stands as one of the great upsets in the history of the event.

Coach Jobe passed away on March 10, 2017.

The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.

The 2025 award will be announced in San Antonio, TX, site of the men’s Division I Basketball Championship.

NOTE: Portions of the release came from the Lamar University athletic website.