Utah State Introduces Wesley Brooks As 10th Women’s Basketball Head Coach
Apr 2, 2024, 1:31 PM | Updated: Apr 3, 2024, 12:55 pm
LOGAN, Utah – The Utah State Aggies and Vice President and Director of Athletics Diana Sabau introduced former Ohio State assistant coach Wesley Brooks as the next women’s basketball head coach on Tuesday, April 2.
The Aggies settled on Brooks after Kayla Ard was dismissed after USU went 5-25 in 2023-24. Utah State was 24-90 in Ard’s four seasons leading the program.
RELATED: USU Hires Wesley Brooks As Next Women’s Basketball Head Coach
“During this process, we determined that we needed a head coach with energy and passion of the highest character for both programs,” Vice President and Director of Athletics Diana Sabau said of the search process. “Someone who truly cares about developing talent and developing people. Not just in the field of competition, but in everyday life.”
𝙇𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 🤘
🗣️ @coachwesbball pic.twitter.com/ix2Zr8qopA
— USU Women's Hoops (@USUWBasketball) April 2, 2024
“I’m looking forward to establishing a program that everybody here can be proud of,” Brooks said after being introduced. “You can expect us to play hard. You can expect us to play fast. You can expect us to play smart and to play together.”
RELATED: Aggies Hire Jerrod Calhoun To Become Next Men’s Basketball Coach
Brooks stressed the importance of preparing student-athletes for life after athletics.
“Every day, the staff and I will look to empower, compete, and conquer. We empower by building up the skills of our student-athletes so that they can go out and conquer on and off the court. Despite the changing landscape of college athletics, I still believe in preparing student-athletes for four years so that they can be successful for the next 40 years of their life.
About Wesley 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.”
Brooks is married to his wife, Yohanna, and has one daughter, Elsa.
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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.
