Wednesday, September 4, 2013

SRU's Brooks to Play Pro in Argentina

Rock's Gerald Brooks signs contract to play professionally in Argentina




SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Former Slippery Rock University men’s basketball standout Gerald Brooks has signed a professional contract to play for Club Atlético Barrio Parque in the Argentinian Professional League, Rock head coach Kevin Reynolds announced Wednesday.

Brooks will report to the club’s home facility in Cordoba, Argentina, Monday to prepare for the upcoming season, according to Reynolds.


“We are very excited for Gerald and happy to see his unselfishness and hard work rewarded,” Reynolds said. “He certainly made a huge impact in our program.”

“We are equally proud he earned his degree from SRU last summer," Reynolds said.


Last winter, in his only season with The Rock, Brooks averaged 12.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in 25 minutes of playing time per game last winter.

The first player off Reynolds’ bench, Brooks helped lead SRU to a 23-9 overall record, a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference runner-up finish and its second NCAA Division II postseason berth in the last three seasons.

Prior to joining The Rock, Brooks was a three-time All-PSAC-Western Division performer at Indiana (Pa.). Brooks was the division’s Rookie of the Year and earned second-team all-conference honors as a freshman and was named to first-team honors in both his sophomore and junior seasons.

Brooks finished his four-year collegiate career with 1,416 points and 766 rebounds.

A native of Pittsburgh and graduate of Schenley High School, Brooks was the fourth member of The Rock’s 2012-13 team to sign a professional contract. Devin Taylor and Darious Clark both inked deals with leagues in Luxembourg, while Luiz Santos signed a pact with a Brazilian team.

Brooks is the 10th Rock player to sign a professional contract in Reynolds’ five seasons as the Green and White’s head coach.

That list also includes Jabril Bailey (Premier Basketball League, now in APBL with Bay Area Shuckers), Kyle Camper (Germany), Michael Evans, Jr. (National Basketball League of Canada), Erroll Robinson (American Basketball Association Dallas Impact), Denell Stephens (Luxembourg's Total League) and Joe Vines (Taiwan Pro League).

Camper, Evans and Stephens were mainstays on The Rock's PSAC semifinal team in 2008-09, Reynolds' rookie season as The Rock's head coach. Bailey, Vines and Taylor helped lead SRU to a conference runner-up finish and NCAA tournament berth in the 2010-11 season before Brooks, Clark, Santos and Taylor led the 2012-13 team to arguably the best season in school history. The 2012-13 Rock equaled the school record for single-season wins and recorded the program’s first-ever opening-round NCAA tournament win with an upset of 16th-ranked Winston-Salem State.

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Bob McComas
Sports Information Director
Slippery Rock University
1 Morrow Way - Room 201 Old Main
Slippery Rock, Pa. 16057
Office: 724.738.2777
Fax: 724.738.4761
Cell: 724.421.5658
Email: robert.mccomas@sru.edu
www.sru.edu

A ROCK SOLID Education

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

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