Today we’d like to introduce you to Darren Brooks.
Darren, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I played Division I basketball at Southern Illinois University and was blessed to have team success and individual success. We went to the NCAA tournament all four years including the Sweet Sixteen in 2002. I was the first player in Missouri Valley Conference history to win Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in back to back seasons. After my senior year, I played NBA Summer League with the Dallas Mavericks before beginning my professional career overseas. I played in Holland, the NBA-Development League where we (Albuquerque Thunderbirds) won the championship in 2006, Australia, Puerto Rico, and Germany. A career ending knee injury in Germany shifted my focus from player to coach. I wanted to share the knowledge I had acquired from various coaches over the years with players as young as kindergarten. The fundamentals are key to player development and sometimes that piece of the game can be overlooked. I wanted to instill in the youth the importance of hard work, the importance of education, and the importance of treating people the way you want to be treated. I began Brooks Basketball Academy in 2012 in my hometown of St. Louis, MO. We began training kids and watching players develop on and off the court. Kids grades started to improve. Discipline issues went down at school. Before long I was getting emails from principals and parents about the overall improvement by the girls and boys we had the pleasure of pouring into. In 2014, a job opportunity for my wife led us to Dallas, TX. After our move to McKinney, my family and I really took some time to get acclimated with the community. I joined Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) at my daughter’s school and I became an active member of Rockbridge Church–leading the Change the World ministry. While I was truly enjoying my new life here in Texas, I could not deny how much I missed being around the game I love. We officially launched in McKinney, TX on January 30, 2016. Since our inception, we have helped over 500 kids pursue their passion of playing the game of basketball. It has been a joy every step of the way.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
When we launched BBA in St. Louis we got off to a great start. We had a lot of kids training right away and I am so grateful for that. After a few months though, some of the parents began to ask me if I would coach their kids. I thought about it and concluded since I am training them, it will be an easy transition to coach them as well. That decision actually made it a little tougher because now players that played on different teams didn’t train with me like previously. Now that I had teams, it became a conflict of interest. I lost some players that played for competing organizations.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
The mission of Brooks Basketball Academy is to prepare student athletes, grades K-8, to compete at the next level through conditioning, skills training and guided game situational play. The academy offers a variety of workouts created to teach the FUNdamentals of the game, while also offering advanced instruction designed to increase a player’s overall effectiveness on the court. BBA further seeks to encourage academic achievement and promote social responsibility in a faith-based environment.
What were you like growing up?
I was taught honesty, loyalty, and integrity. Doing the right thing when no one is watching is what really makes a person. Those values have always stuck with me. My mother taught me when I was a kid to treat people the way I want to be treated. If the shoe was on the other foot, how would you feel son if someone said or did that is what she would say.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brooksbasketballacademy.com
- Phone: 972-838-6417
- Email: contactus@brooksbasketballacademy.com
- Instagram: @BBA Skills
- Facebook: @BBA Skills
- Twitter: @BBA Skills
Image Credit:
Michael Dorn
Chantel Sutberry
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