Wes Brooks Brings Talent, Confidence To Utah State Women’s Basketball Program
Apr 2, 2024, 5:00 PM | Updated: Apr 3, 2024, 10:54 am
LOGAN, Utah – Diana Sabau and the Utah State Aggies didn’t waste any time finding the next face of the USU women’s basketball program, introducing former Ohio State Buckeye assistant Wes Brooks as the tenth head coach in program history on Tuesday, April 2.
Hours after his introductory press conference, Brooks and Sabau appeared on KSL Sports Zone to discuss the direction of Aggie basketball.
“Wesley Brooks, in all great respect, is a dog when it comes to recruiting student-athletes and bringing the best talent to the institutions he has been at,” Vice President and Director of Athletics Diana Sabau told Hans & Scotty G.
RELATED: USU Introduces Wesley Brooks As 10th Women’s Basketball Head Coach
Lights. Camera. Action!
📸 @coachwesbball pic.twitter.com/H8LtiVX967
— USU Women's Hoops (@USUWBasketball) April 2, 2024
Most recently, Brooks has coached in the Midwest at Ohio State University and the University of Michigan. That experience and his stint as a second assistant at the University of Utah under Lynne Roberts made him a desirable candidate for the Aggies.
“Wes started his career as a second assistant at Utah (2015). He knows the West and knows how to recruit to the Mountain West Conference specifically… He’s dialed in. He already knows some of his top priorities and what he needs to accomplish as our new women’s basketball head coach.”
ICYMI…
💨 @UtahState_AD Diana Sabau joined @ScottyGZone and @975Hans on @KSLSportsZone to talk about the Aggies new head men’s and women’s basketball coaches.https://t.co/NMnqlps07w— Utah State Athletics (@USUAthletics) April 2, 2024
Brooks Bringing Fast-Pace To Aggie Women’s Hoops
“There’s nothing scary about it; I’m excited about it,” the first-time head coach said. “Ever since I started, I’ve always wanted to do this. I’ve worked 17 years to get to this point. I think I’ve prepared all my life for it, so now it’s time to go do it.”
After discussing improving the team’s conditioning in his introductory press conference, the longtime assistant coach expounded on his philosophy with Hans & Scotty.
𝙊𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙐𝙋 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚!
🗣️ @UtahState_AD #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/xwbEiZWcg3
— USU Women's Hoops (@USUWBasketball) April 2, 2024
“The standards we set are going to determine our identity. Based off of the standards that create our identity, we’ll hold our kids accountable. That’s how we’ll build our program… We just need to get better one day at a time, and we’re doing everything the right way; we’re going to get the results that we like.”
Aggie fans can look forward to a pace that matches other teams in the Mountain West Conference. Brooks wants to play an analytical, smart basketball style.
“We want to get more shots than the other team attempts. We want to get up and down the floor. We’re going to play fast, and we are very analytic-driven because the numbers do work.”
About Wes Brooks
A Richmond, Virginia native, Brooks began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at West Virginia. After three years with the Mountaineers, he made stops at Robert Morris (2008), Texas Southern (2009-11), North Texas (2012-15), Utah (2015-17), and Michigan (2018-21) before spending the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
In three seasons with Brooks in Columbus under head coach Kevin McGuff, the Buckeyes went 79-21 overall and 42-12 in conference play.
𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐄𝐫𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲!
Welcome our newest head coach, @coachwesbball!
➡️ https://t.co/gAgiyD0Vfi#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/Ndull7bJB7
— USU Women's Hoops (@USUWBasketball) April 1, 2024
“I am thankful and honored that Diana and President (Elizabeth) Cantwell have given me the opportunity to lead the Utah State women’s basketball program,” said Brooks. “I am excited and look forward to establishing a program that Aggie nation can be proud of. Our goal is to win championships. Yohanna, Elsa and I look forward to settling into the Logan community.”
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering the Utah State Aggies, Locals in MLB, and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees, Beehive baseball, and Aggie athletics coverage here.
