WILMINGTON, NC – Brooks Lee, who grew up around roundball as a coach’s son before playing collegiate hoops and moving up to the coaching ranks, has been named assistant men’s basketball coach at UNC Wilmington.
Second-year coach Benny Moss made the announcement on Thursday after conducting a national search to replace departed assistant Kirk Earlywine, who accepted the head position at Eastern Washington earlier in the summer.
"Brooks is a perfect fit for us,” said Moss.
“He’s what I would call a utility guy because he does a
lot of things really well. He is known for his skill development
through individual workouts, but he’s also a great scouter
and game planner.
“Brooks is also a quality individual who is very
professional. He’s someone we would all be proud to call our
own.”
Lee, 27, moves to the Port City following two seasons at UNCG . He
was promoted to the second assistant’s slot at UNCG last year
and served as recruiting coordinator for the Spartans.
"We wish Brooks the best in his new endeavor," said UNCG coach Mike
Dement. "August is not the typical time to lose an assistant coach,
but there never is a good time to lose an assistant coach,
particularlty one as good as Brooks. He's done an outstanding job
for us and I know he will for UNCW, as well."
UNCW is Lee’s fourth stop in collegiate basketball, and
he’s quickly building an impressive pedigree. He began his
career as an assistant for Mike Young at Wofford in 2002-03 and was
the Director of Basketball Operations at East Carolina in 2004-05
before moving to the Gate City .
As a player, Lee began his collegiate career at High Point before
transferring to Campbell to play for his father, Billy, now the
head coach at NCAA Division II St. Andrews. The younger Lee played
his final two years in Buies Creek, starting all 53 games and
averaging 9.7 points and 4.3 assists. In only two seasons, he
placed sixth on Campbell’s career assist list with 254 and
ranks seventh all-time in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting
at a 39.3 percent clip.
As a high school player at Harnett Central, Lee set school records
for points, 3-point field goals and free throw percentage. He was
an all-conference selection and competed in the North Carolina
East-West All-Star Game.
Lee earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Management in 2002
from Campbell and completed his Master’s Degree in Exercise
Science at CU in 2003.
Dement confirmed that he will begin the search process for Lee's successor immediately.
- UNCG -