Alvin Brooks III and Mark Fox have officially been added to Mark Pope’s new basketball staff at Kentucky.
Alvin Brooks III, regarded as one of the nation’s best assistant coaches, has joined the Kentucky men’s basketball coaching staff as associate head coach it was announced on Thursday.
Brooks spent the last eight seasons as the top assistant for Baylor, the 2021 National Champions. He is a 20-year coaching veteran in the collegiate game.
“Alvin Brooks is a national champion coach, three times over,” UK head coach Mark Pope said. “He is one of the most highly regarded tacticians, recruiters and relationship-builders in all of college basketball. He’s been mentored by some of the great coaches of the game, including Bruce Weber and Scott Drew. He and his wife, Tiffany, and their sons AJ and Austin are going to be a big part of Big Blue Nation and help us bring home No. 9.”
Brooks just completed his eighth season as an assistant at Baylor. The Bears went 194-72 during Brooks’ tenure, including a 94-46 record in Big 12 action, 12-5 in NCAA Tournament games and 22-15 against Associated Press top-10 ranked foes.
“I am so excited to join Coach Pope and his staff and be a part of the Big Blue Nation,” Brooks said. “I’m very appreciative of the opportunity to join a storied program, with such a passionate fan base as we chase banners together. My family and I are grateful to Coach Pope and Mitch Barnhart and I can’t wait to get started.”
A Houston native, Brooks began his coaching career at the junior college level. He spent two seasons at Arkansas-Forth Smith, helping the Lions to the 2006 NJCAA Division I championship. He then joined the staff at Midland, where he again was on staff for an NJCAA title team in 2007.
Brooks ascended to the Division I level when he joined the staff for three seasons at Bradley as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. From there he also was a part of the Sam Houston State (2010-12) and Kansas State (2012-16) staffs before joining forces with Scott Drew at Baylor in 2016.
At Kansas State, Brooks was a part of one the best stretches in school history with 79 wins and NCAA Tournament appearances in two the four seasons. He also played a major role in K-State’s first-ever Big 12 regular-season title in 2012-13, which included the second-most wins (27) and a tie for the most conference victories (14) in school history.
At Baylor, the Bears put together one of the best seasons in program history in 2019-20. BU finished 26-4 and were projected for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the postseason. The Bears posted 23 straight wins and were ranked No. 1 by the AP for five weeks, the longest stretch for one team since Kentucky was the top-ranked team in 19 straight weeks in 2015.
The following season, Baylor earned a No. 1 seed and captured the program’s first national title. BU capped the season with a 28-2 overall record and a 13-1 mark in Big 12 action. Baylor captured a program-record 11 victories over ranked foes and was a perfect 7-0 against teams ranked inside of the top 10. Three players earned All-America honors, along with Davion Mitchell taking home National Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Capitalizing on Baylor’s success, with Brooks playing the lead role as recruiter, BU hauled in the highest ranked recruiting class in program history in 2021 at No. 4 overall by ESPN.
The Bears have had five selections in the NBA Draft, including three-consecutive lottery selections (Mitchell, Jeremy Sochan and Keyonte George) with Brooks on staff.
Brooks began his own collegiate playing career at Midland College before transferring to Idaho State. He was an Academic All-Big Sky selection as a senior. Brooks graduated from Idaho State in 2002 with a degree in finance. He earned a master’s degree in athletics administration in 2023. He and his wife, Tiffany, have two children, Alvin IV (AJ) and Austin.
He is the son of Lamar head coach Alvin Brooks II. Brooks II was the director of operations under Kentucky’s Billy Gillisipie from 2007-09.
His hiring is contingent on the satisfaction of the University’s pre-employment screenings and other due diligence.
Mark Fox, who has 18 years of collegiate head coaching experience, has joined the Kentucky men’s basketball staff as an associate coach it was announced on Wednesday.
“I can’t believe that I get to work with Mark Fox,” UK head coach Mark Pope said. “Our relationship began at the University of Washington when I was a freshman and ever since then he has been an incredible mentor to me over the years. He even hired me for my first job.
“He is one of the most intelligent and most detailed-oriented coaches in all of college basketball. Mark has coached NBA draft picks. He’s coached teams in the NCAA Tournament. He’s recruited the best players in the country, and he’s dealt with every changing dynamic in college basketball over the last 25 years. Coach Fox is going to be a lynchpin in all that we do at the University of Kentucky. I’m glad to welcome Cindy and their family to Big Blue Nation.”
Fox most recently served as the Director of Student-Athlete Relations and NIL Partnerships at Georgetown University in 2023-24. Prior to that stint, Fox has been a head coach at Nevada, Georgia and California.
“This opportunity is extra special because, not only do I get to work at one of the most traditional basketball powers in the country, but I also get to work with a former player and a former staff member who is like family to me,” Fox said.
Fox and Pope reunite in Lexington, after Fox hired Pope for his first collegiate basketball position. Pope served as the Director of Basketball Operations at Georgia in 2009-10, coincidentally Fox’s first season with the Bulldogs.
Owning a career record of 324-263, Fox has directed teams to four regular-season conference titles, five NCAA Tournament appearances and 10 total postseason appearances during his collegiate coaching tenure.
In his most recent head coaching stint, Fox led the California program for four seasons. Leading up to his tenure with the Bears, Fox compiled a 123-43 record in his five seasons at Nevada and a 163-133 mark at Georgia.
With Nevada, Fox helped the Wolf Pack to four Western Athletic Conference championships, three trips to the NCAA Tournament and a pair of appearances in the College Basketball Invitational. He enjoyed one of the hottest starts for a head coach in Division I history with the Wolf Pack. Fox established what was then a record for highest winning percentage in a coach’s first three seasons (.818, 81-18). He was tabbed the WAC Coach of the Year three straight seasons in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and coached four WAC Players of the Year.
Fox was the head coach at Georgia for nine seasons, with the Bulldogs advancing to two NCAA Tournaments and three National Invitation Tournaments.
Yante Maten was the 2018 Associated Press Southeastern Conference Player of the Year after averaging a league-best 19.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Juwan Parker was tabbed the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year in the same season. Fox guided 15 players to professional careers, including Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who was drafted No. 8 overall in 2018 and is a two-time NBA Champion. Caldwell-Pope earned the distinction as the first McDonald’s All-American to sign with Georgia in nearly 20 years and he was the 2013 SEC Player of the Year. Furthermore, every senior who played for Fox graduated during his tenure.
The Bulldogs amassed four 20-win seasons, tied for the most by a head coach in school history. Three of those four 20-win seasons came consecutively from 2014-16, making Fox the only Georgia head coach to win at least 20 games three years in a row. From 2014-17, Georgia won a total of 80 games – the second-winningest four-year stretch in program history – and the Bulldogs’ 42 SEC wins and 54 home wins over the span are the most ever at the school.
Fox served as an assistant coach under Trent Johnson at Nevada and helped the Wolf Pack to its first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2004 prior to taking the reins as head coach. Fox was also an assistant to Tom Asbury at Kansas State from 1994-2000 and served as an assistant with Lynn Nance at Washington from 1991-93, where he coached Pope to a Pac-10 Freshman of the Year nod.
Between his stints at Cal and Georgia, Fox spent the fall of 2018 with USA Basketball, serving as an assistant coach to Jeff Van Gundy for the World Cup qualifying team. He also assisted the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Summer League and professional development stints with coaches Brad Stevens, Gregg Popovich and Geno Auriemma, among others.
Fox currently serves on the Junior National Men’s Team Committee with Team USA. That group is responsible for selecting coaches and athletes for USA Basketball college-aged competitions, which include FIBA U19 World Cups, FIBA Americas U18 Championship and the Pan American Games.
He played collegiately at Garden City Community College and lettered two seasons at Eastern New Mexico. Fox earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Eastern New Mexico and a master’s in sport administration/sports psychology from Kansas.
Fox and his wife, Cindy, have two children, Parker and Olivia.
His hiring is contingent on the satisfaction of the University’s pre-employment screenings and other due diligence.
