MB men’s basketball
full mettle jacket
Robert Brooks has carried his passion on the basketball court to Iraq and now Afghanistan, where he serves his country as a member of the United States Marine Corps
T
by Simit Shah
There are a lot of ways to describe Robert Brooks, but simply put, the former Georgia Tech basketball forward defies all convention. “Without a doubt, he’s always been a unique young man,” noted Paul Hewitt, who signed Brooks as part of his first recruiting class in 2000. “A great teammate with unbelievable enthusiasm, but he’s a guy who was always going to take a different path.” That path led the Michigan native from the Final Four in San Antonio to Marine Corps basic training nine months later, surprising just about everyone in the process. Brooks came to Tech from Saginaw as a 6-8, 210 pound big man with a reputation as a scrappy player. A staunch defender, he became a mainstay in Hewitt’s frontcourt for four seasons. He briefly started as a sophomore, but was primarily a guy on the bench that would provide a boost with his energy. “We first met in the summer before our freshman season,” recalled teammate Marvin Lewis. “I saw a tall guy with big shoes. He was real slender, and I didn’t know anything about him. I did see a lot of energy. That was his thing - whether it was on the court or going to class. He was just full of energy, and that’s what I gravitated to.” During his career at Tech, Brooks never lit up the stat sheet, finishing with modest scoring and rebounding averages, but his contributions often transcended the box score. “He did what needed to be done,” noted Lewis. “He was a team guy. Guys like Robert and Tony McHenry might play as little as three, four or five minutes in a game, but their presence was felt. Robert was always cheering everyone on just the same way he’d want everyone to cheer for him. Once he was in the game, no job was too small. Whatever coaches or teammates asked him to do, he did it.” “You need guys like Robert to be successful,” Hewitt added. “He was truly a team guy willing to do the little things, the type of things that get overlooked in the course of a game but end up being the difference between winning and losing.” Brooks started 12 games as a sophomore and averaged over 16 minutes a game that year. He ap-
6
The Buzz
The view of Brooks’ camp from the top of the Alcatraz bunker in Iraq
Brooks spent much of his time in Iraq at the “Alcatraz” bunker, his Battalion Supply shop.
Brooks in front of Lake Habbaniyah, a shallow, natural lake in al-Anbar, Iraq.