March 23, 2015

Brooks picks up all-region honor from NABC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Carson-Newman junior forward Carson Brooks (Knoxville, Tenn.) has been named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Southeast Region second team.

Brooks becomes the third all-region honoree for head coach Chuck Benson. Antoine Davis was a two-time first team all-region honoree, while Ish Sanders earned second team all-region honors in 2013 and first team accolades in 2014.

"It's kind of surprising to me just from where I got hurt in the NCAA tournament," Brooks said. "I feel like I'm a high volume player. But I wouldn't be able to be on this team without my teammates. This is their award too."

Brooks was 11th in the South Atlantic Conference in scoring at 15.1 points per game. He owns the SAC statistical championship for made field goals this season with 178. Brooks also clocked in at seventh in the SAC with his 57.8 field goal percentage.

A South Atlantic Conference and TSWA Player of the Week honoree, Brooks set a SAC and Carson-Newman school record when he hit all 12 of his field goal attempts en route to 26 points against Barton in the Eagles' opener.

"Carson really came into his own this year and had moments where he looked unbelievably dominant," Benson said. "It goes back to us getting some kids who are talented and they make natural progression. Carson has made that progression for embracing what we're trying to do, playing with confidence and then delivering. He's stepped into the void left by Ish and Antoine and for all those reasons and more, we're incredibly proud that he's been named all-region."

Brooks also registers at second and third on Carson-Newman's single game field goal percentage marks by going 11-for-12 from the field against Queens and 10-for-11 against Anderson.

He scored double figures in 24 contests this season including 16 consecutive at one point – the longest double-digit scoring stream since Sanders collected 15 consecutive double-digit games his senior year.

Brooks reset his career high with 28 points against Queens. For the first time in his career, he dished out five assists in a game, doing so both against Queens at home and Newberry at home.

He had six, 20-point games this season, including three consecutive against Tusculum, Newberry and Anderson (that streak matches streaks of Davis and Sanders from their senior seasons for the longest 20-point scoring streaks for C-N under Benson).

Brooks put down his second career double-double with 23 points and 10 boards against Tusculum at home before doing it again four games slater with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the Eagles' win over top-ranked LMU in Harrogate.

He reached a nadir in the SAC tournament to earn all-tournament team honors. Brooks had double-doubles against both Coker in the quarterfinals and against Lincoln Memorial in the Eagles' SAC tournament championship clinching win.

Brooks is just one of three SAC athletes on the all-region team, joining LMU's Luquon Choice and Lorenza Ross.

Southeast

First Team Second Team

Dontrell Brite, Mount Olive Carson Brooks, Carson-Newman

Troran Brown, Montevallo Luquon Choice, Lincoln Memorial

Kenney Funderburk, Columbus State Isaiah Johnson, Young Harris

Quamain Rose, UNC Pembroke Logan Lyle, King

Keshun Sherrill, Georgia Regents Larry Slaughter, Montevallo

Lorenza Ross, Lincoln Memorial

Coach of the Year: Danny Young, Montevallo