After 3 unprecedented years with Kentucky basketball, Keion Brooks to leave for Washington

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Keion Brooks is returning to university basketball. Just not at Kentucky.

The Wildcats’ setting up ahead previous year, who recently withdrew his title from the NBA draft pool, declared Monday he would engage in his senior year of school basketball at Washington.

Brooks declared for the NBA draft on April 4 when leaving open up the option to return to school. Afterwards that month, he entered the transfer portal but in interviews at the NBA G League combine claimed he was however concentrating on starting off a specialist profession.

Just after not staying invited to the NBA’s scouting merge, he eradicated his identify from the draft pool.

Past time, Brooks averaged 10.8 details and 4.4 rebounds per activity final year.

Ohio Condition, Maryland, UCLA, Arizona, Notre Dame, Iowa, Florida, Mississippi Point out, South Carolina, BYU, DePaul, UNLV, Nebraska, Kansas State and Memphis were also linked to Brooks as probable transfer places.

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The Fort Wayne, Indiana, indigenous endured an unparalleled Kentucky job.

The 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward served as a purpose player as a freshman on a staff that gained the 2020 Southeastern Convention normal season title but noticed its season stop early with the COVID-19 pandemic compelled the cancelation of the NCAA Match.

He missed the first 6 video games of his sophomore period with a leg damage. By the time he returned to the courtroom, Kentucky was nicely on its way to an abysmal 9-16 report.

Brooks moved into the commencing lineup complete-time for the initial time as a junior but continued to struggle the inconsistency that has characterized most of his job. He was at his best in Kentucky’s marquee earn of the year with 27 factors and eight rebounds in the blowout of Kansas in Lawrence.

That efficiency was the next activity in a stretch of 5 consecutive double-digit scoring games. Brooks’ kind dipped again down the stretch as he failed to arrive at double digits in three of the last four online games.

Tale carries on

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Immediately after the season-ending decline to St. Peter’s, Brooks made available what could have been perceived as a goodbye to Kentucky.

“I like and take pleasure in remaining about the team, obtaining really superior and wonderful occasions,” Brooks mentioned. “My tenure in this article has been a very little funky and tough, a minor distinctive, but I would not trade it for nearly anything.

“Coming in this article, I’ve learned a good deal over and above becoming a basketball player, but Mentor Cal has accomplished a great occupation of shaping me into a much better gentleman and that staying claimed, I really don’t regret anything that I have been by means of as long as I have been in this article.”

Uk coach John Calipari signaled in recent radio interviews he did not hope Brooks to return to Kentucky. With Brooks transferring, the strain increases on ahead Jacob Toppin, who also analyzed the draft waters ahead of returning to United kingdom, to take on a bigger job.

Toppin, who split time with Brooks at the 4 very last time, will probable compete with sophomore Daimion Collins for the starting spot along with National Player of the Yr Oscar Tshiebwe in the Kentucky frontcourt.

Junior Lance Ware is set to return as Tshiebwe’s primary backup.

Email Jon Hale at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter at @JonHale_CJ. 

This write-up originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Keion Brooks: Kentucky basketball forward transferring to Washington