PEORIA, Ill. -- Alvin Brooks III, who has been an assistant coach for each of the last two NJCAA Division I national championship teams, has been hired to replace Lennox Forrester on the Bradley Basketball staff, sixth-year Braves head coach Jim Les announced today. Forrester left last month after five years as a Bradley assistant to become the head coach at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
A native of Houston, Texas, Brooks helped Arkansas-Fort Smith to a 62-7 (.899) record in his two years on the staff, which was capped by the 2006 NJCAA Division I national title. This past season, he helped Midland (Texas) College to a 29-8 (.784) mark and the 2007 NJCAA Division I national championship.
“We are very excited to add Alvin to our staff,” said Les. “He came highly-recommended as one of the top up-and-coming young coaches in the country and he will be a great addition to our program.”
Brooks began his college playing career at Midland and helped the Chapparals to a sixth-place finish in the 2000 NJCAA national tournament before transferring to Idaho State University. After earning Academic All-Big Sky Conference honors as a senior at Idaho State, Brooks earned his bachelor's degree in finance in 2002 and his master's degree in athletic administration from ISU in 2003. He served as as an aide to former Idaho State athletic director Jim Senter for one year before beginning his coaching career at Arkansas-Fort Smith in 2004.
