Lefty Driesell taught Kenny Brooks 'it's okay to incorporate family with your program'

As a coach, we’ve gotten a pretty good look at what Kenny Brooks‘ philosophy is. When you look at the roster he assembled this offseason, there’s plenty of size and plenty of players who can shoot the ball at a high clip. That much is clear. However, as a person and as a mentor to his players, we haven’t been able to see as much of what Brooks’ philosophy is. So, let’s circle back all the way to 1988.

That year, Brooks was heading into his sophomore season playing for James Madison, and the program hired a new head coach to lead the program — a guy by the name of Lefty Driesell. You may have heard of him.

The late Driesell is one of the all-time greats in the world of college basketball. He coached at Maryland from 1969-1986 where he led the Terrapins to an NIT Championship in 1972 and ACC Tournament Championship in 1984. In total, he won 786 games in his career. At the time of his retirement in 2003, that put him at 4th all-time behind Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp and Bob Knight. Legendary company, to say the least.

After his time at Maryland, Driesell went on to coach Brooks at James Madison from 1988-1991. As you would imagine, the two grew close. Driesell served as a mentor to Brooks. What’s something that Brooks learned from Driesell that still sticks to this day? Family.

In a team sport like basketball, you can’t just be teammates. You have to be family, and Brooks uses that philosophy to this day.

“One of the things that’s followed us from school to school with my staff is family,” the Kentucky head coach explained. “You want to make sure not only within your team, your coaching staff, everything about it has been about family. I’ve been fortunate enough to have my daughters around, my whole family around the program. It just really created a sense of family.”

He continued, “I learned that from my head coach, Lefty Driesell. He taught me that it’s okay to incorporate family with your program. As a result, there’s a closeness. A different kind of closeness. Everyone understands you’re not just a basketball player, a number, a position, you’re people, you’re family. When people have tough times, they can definitely come and lean on us for other things than just basketball. That’s really helped in our philosophy. It’s really helped in how our kids play, how they feel out on the court. It’s something that we had at James Madison.”

Brooks’ on-court philosophy has had to adapt over the years considering how the game and his competition have changed, but the family part of it is something that will always stay the same.

“When I was at James Madison, we were in the CAA, and it was a big jump to go to the ACC. It’ll be another jump to come to the SEC,” Brooks said. “You have to evolve. The one common denominator with all of my programs was culture and a family-type atmosphere.”

The connections between Driesell and Brooks don’t stop there, however. After circling back to 1988 before, let’s circle back to just eight days ago at Big Blue Madness.

At Big Blue Madness, Kenny Brooks made his first real impression to the Big Blue Nation by coming out in unforgettable fashion during his entrance. Well, you know who came up with the concept of a “midnight madness”? Yep, you guessed it. Lefty Driesell.

Below are two photos, one of Driesell and one of Brooks. Both are seen gesturing to crowd in their first impressions to their respective fanbases. Driesell throws up his signature “v-sign” during his first season at Maryland, and Brooks points to the crowd in his first Big Blue Madness as the head coach of Kentucky women’s basketball.

The symbolism between the late great and Brooks is there, and it’s beautiful. Hopefully, Brooks can recreate some of the winning that Driesell did during his storied 49-year career.