New Orleans Pelicans sign former Washington, Kentucky forward Keion Brooks Jr.

Keion Brooks Jr., a Wildcat turned Husky during his five-year collegiate career, has now reached the pros.

While he didn’t hear his name called during the 2024 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans have signed him as an undrafted free agent.

Brooks spent three years at Kentucky before transferring to Washington for his final two. Over his half decade in college basketball, he appeared in 142 games combined for both programs, including 104 starts with 95 of those coming in the last three seasons.

In total, Brooks averaged 13.1 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 46.4% from the field.

While at UK, Brooks posted 8.3 points and 4.4 rebounds on 47.4% from the field in 80 games. After three seasons under John Calipari in Lexington, he then transferred to Seattle for his final two as a senior and graduate student.

Washington is where Brooks really flourished as a player as a two-time All Pac-12 Selection. In 62 starts with the Huskies, Brooks put up 19.4 points and 6.8 rebounds on 46.1% shooting. That included his career-best year as a grad with statistics of 21.1 points, which was best in the conference and Top-20 nationally, and 6.8 rebounds while shooting 48.7% overall and by far his best year from three at 38% on 1.6 triples per game. That earned him a spot on the All Pac-12 First Team in ’23-’24.

Brooks, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, played high school basketball at La Lumiere School. He was a four-star prospect as the No. 24 overall recruit in the 2019 cycle. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also rated as the No. 5 SF and the No. 2 player out of his state behind only his teammate in Isaiah Stewart (Washington, Detroit Pistons)