NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 1 in 2023-24 season
By Joey Loose
9. Keion Brooks (Washington)
A former starting forward at Kentucky, this was year two for Brooks on the West Coast after a three-year stay in Lexington. His game really started to develop during the end of his time with the Wildcats, though he became quite the frontcourt weapon for Washington these last two seasons. This past year in particular was really special, even in a bad season for the Huskies.
Brooks was a lone bright spot in a tough season for Washington, averaging 21.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game to lead the team in both categories. In fact, he was one of the best offensive players in the entire Pac-12 and also had decent shot blocking numbers. Some of his metrics don’t exactly jump off the charts, but Brooks was certainly doing damage for a team that finished just 6th in the Pac-12.
Rough performances were few and far between for Brooks, who scored 32 against Northern Kentucky just four days into the season. He played well in big wins over Gonzaga and dropped 22 points at Washington State in the regular season finale to shock their rivals. He would’ve gotten more attention had his team or league been a bit better, but there’s no denying that Brooks has turned into quite the player these last three seasons.