Former Wildcat Keion Brooks signs two-way deal with Pelicans

A pair of former Kentucky players will link up in NOLA.

First reported by Recruits Zone, Keion Brooks Jr. has signed a two-way deal with the New Orleans Pelicans after going unselected in this week’s 2024 NBA Draft. He’ll join Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves, who was taken with the 47th pick by the Pelicans during the second round on Thursday.

Brooks, who played at Kentucky from 2019-22 before transferring to Washington and spending the last two seasons with the Huskies, is coming off back-to-back All-Pac-12 campaigns. He was a Second-Team performer in 2022-23 and cracked the First-Team in 2023-24 before making the leap to the professional ranks.

Washington’s men’s basketball account confirmed the news through social media on Friday night.

𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬

Congrats to our guy @KeionB_12 on signing with the Pelicans!#ProDawgs pic.twitter.com/WusaAvXQBw

— Washington Men's Basketball (@UW_MBB) June 29, 2024

Brooks first came to Lexington as a four-star high school recruit out of La Lumiere in Indiana. Under former head coach John Calipari, the 6-foot-7 forward filled in as a reserve player for Kentucky as a freshman in 2019-20, averaging 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per outing across 31 games played, including six starts. Unfortunately, that season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He returned as a sophomore the following year, appearing in 16 games during another shortened season where he averaged 10.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in 23.6 minutes per contest. A left leg injury forced him to miss the first nine games. Brooks would have his breakout campaign as a junior in 2021-22, starting all 33 games played for the Wildcats. He posted per-game averages of 10.8 points and 4.4 rebounds in 24.5 minutes while shooting a career-high 49.1 percent from the floor.

Following his first three college seasons, Brooks would transfer out west where he became an immediate star for Washington. He started all 30 games as a senior in 2022-23 while averaging 17.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in 35.5 minutes per outing. His production took another leap this past season as a graduate student with per-game averages of 21.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in 35 minutes (on a career-high 38 percent shooting from deep) while again starting every game for the Huskies.

Although Brooks did not hear his name called during the two-day draft, he’ll have a chance to chase his NBA dreams on a two-way contract with the Pelicans.