VIDEO: Carson Brooks Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman senior forward Carson Brooks (Knoxville, Tenn.) has been lauded by Division II Bulletin as the preseason player of the year for the South Atlantic Conference and an honorable mention All-American.
Brooks joins Antoine Davis and Ish Sanders as Carson-Newman players all-time to receive a preseason accolade from Division II Bulletin. He is the first preseason player of the year pick in program history according to the publication.
"It's a big deal," Brooks said. "The goal though is to be the league's player of the year and an All-American. It's a start, but it's preseason, and we have some team goals that are a little more important to me. We want to be the best team and be the best unit, but we want to improve on last year's NCAA tournament run."
A first team All-SAC selection and second team NABC All-Region pick in 2014-15, Brooks was Carson-Newman's leading scorer in his junior year. Brooks was 11th in the South Atlantic Conference in scoring at 15.1 points per game.
Brooks set a SAC and Carson-Newman record in his first game of 2014-15 by hitting 12 field goals without missing against the Barton Bulldogs.
He owned the SAC statistical championship for made field goals last season with 178. Brooks also clocked in at seventh in the SAC with his 57.8 field goal percentage. Brooks also registers at second and third on Carson-Newman's single game field goal percentage marks by going 11-for-12 from the field against Queens and 10-for-11 against Anderson.
He scored double figures in 24 contests this season including 16 consecutive at one point – the longest double-digit scoring stream since Sanders collected 15 consecutive double-digit games his senior year. Brooks reset his career high with 28 points against Queens. For the first time in his career, he dished out five assists in a game, doing so both against Queens at home and Newberry at home.
He had six, 20-point games last season, including three consecutive against Tusculum, Newberry and Anderson (that streak matches streaks of Davis and Sanders from their senior seasons for the longest 20-point scoring streaks for C-N under Benson). Brooks put down his second career double-double with 23 points and 10 boards against Tusculum at home before doing it again four games later with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the Eagles' win over top-ranked LMU in Harrogate.
He reached a nadir in the SAC tournament to earn all-tournament team honors. Brooks had double-doubles against both Coker in the quarterfinals and against Lincoln Memorial in the Eagles' SAC tournament championship clinching win. Brooks earned SAC Player of the Week honors once during his junior season.
Brooks will be on display with the rest of his teammates Wednesday Oct. 14 during Mossy Creek Madness as Carson-Newman celebrates the start of basketball practice. Brooks will participate in a slam dunk contest that day. Fans are welcome to attend the proceedings at 7 or watch online at cneagles.com/live.
