Jeff Brooks (born June 12, 1989) is an American-born naturalized Italian professional basketball player for Trieste of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He also represents the Italian national team.[1]

Jeff Brooks
Brooks in October 2018
No. 23 – Pallacanestro Trieste
PositionPower forward
LeagueLBA
Personal information
Born (1989-06-12) June 12, 1989 (age 35)
Louisville, Kentucky
NationalityAmerican / Italian
Listed height2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
Listed weight100 kg (220 lb)
Career information
High schoolDoss (Louisville, Kentucky)
CollegePenn State (2007–2011)
NBA draft2011: undrafted
Playing career2011–present
Career history
2011–2012Aurora Jesi
2012–2013Cantù
2013–2014Juvecaserta
2014–2015Dinamo Sassari
2015–2016Avtodor Saratov
2016–2018Unicaja Malaga
2018–2021Olimpia Milano
2021–2024Reyer Venezia
2024–presentTrieste
Career highlights and awards

College career

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After playing high school basketball at Doss High School, in Louisville, Kentucky, Brooks played 4 seasons of college basketball at the Pennsylvania State University, with the Penn State Nittany Lions.[2]

Professional career

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On July 20, 2011, he signed with Aurora Basket Jesi of the Italian Legadue Basket for the 2011–12 season.[3]

On July 31, 2012, he signed with Pallacanestro Cantù for the 2012–13 season.[4] With Cantù he won the Italian Supercup and played in the 2012–13 Euroleague.

On August 9, 2013, he signed with Juvecaserta Basket for the 2013–14 season.[5] He was selected to play at the 2014 Serie A All-Star game.[6]

On June 13, 2014, he signed a one-year deal with Dinamo Sassari.[7] With Sassari, he won the Italian Serie A and the Italian Cup in 2015.

On July 17, 2015, he signed a two-year deal with Avtodor Saratov.[8] After one season he left Saratov and signed a one-year deal with Spanish club Unicaja.[9] In the 2016–17 season, Brooks won the EuroCup with Unicaja after beating Valencia BC in the Finals.[10]

On June 25, 2018, Brooks signed a two-year deal with Italian club Olimpia Milano.[11][12] On June 11, 2020, he announced he was returning to the team for a third season.[13]

On July 1, 2021, Brooks, after three years, left Milano and signed a multi-year contract with rivals Reyer Venezia.[14]

Career statistics

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Domestic Leagues

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Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12   Fileni BPA Jesi LegaDue 28 35.0 56.6% 40.9% 77.4% 6.9 0.9 1.7 0.4 17.0
2012–13   Lenovo Cantù Serie A 43 24.3 50.6% 32.7% 77.1% 4.9 0.9 0.7 0.7 7.9
2013–14   Pasta Reggia Caserta Serie A 30 31.4 55.1% 45.2% 77.0% 6.3 1.5 1.5 0.5 14.4
2014–15   Banco di Sardegna Sassari Serie A 21 28.3 44.4% 31.9% 81.6% 7.5 1.3 0.9 0.6 8.7
2015–16   Avtodor Saratov VTB United League 26 27.3 53.9% 41.9% 78.5% 5.8 2.2 1.2 0.3 11.0
2016–17   Unicaja Málaga Liga ACB 38 20.4 49.3% 27.5% 82.6% 4.0 1.0 0.6 0.3 6.9
2017–18   Unicaja Málaga Liga ACB 33 20.5 48.3% 37.8% 89.4% 4.3 0.9 0.5 0.2 8.5
2018–19   AX Armani Exchange Milano Serie A 35 22.5 55.0% 33.3% 78.7% 4.5 1.0 0.7 0.5 5.9

European Competitions

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2012–13 Euroleague   Mapooro Cantù 10 3 23.5 36.7% 10.0% 55.6% 4.9 1.3 0.6 0.0 8.3 9.2
2014–15 Euroleague   Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari 8 8 29.1 52.8% 47.1% 76.9% 5.0 1.3 2.0 0.6 9.3 13.0
2015–16 Eurocup   Avtodor Saratov 13 12 30.7 57.0% 38.5% 89.6% 8.2 2.4 1.2 0.5 13.1 21.3
2016–17 Eurocup   Unicaja Málaga 22 21 22.7 45.1% 36.1% 71.4% 4.2 1.0 0.6 0.4 7.3 8.3
2017–18 Euroleague   Unicaja Málaga 26 23 22.9 50.0% 39.5% 78.0% 4.3 1.0 0.6 0.4 8.8 9.8
2018–19 EuroLeague   AX Armani Exchange Milano 29 29 25.1 50.0% 39.6% 83.3% 5.3 1.0 0.8 0.3 6.0 8.6

Italian national team

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Year Tournament National Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019 FIBA World Cup   Italy 5 0 17.0 56.2% 33.3% 66.7% 4.2 1.0 1.6 1.2 4.4
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Personal life

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Brooks is married to an Italian woman and they have a son.[15]

On September 6, 2018, Brooks became officially Italian. He got the Italian passport and he was registered to FIBA for the upcoming 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification against Poland and Hungary.[16]

On June 29, 2024, he signed with Trieste of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Italia: si aggregano oggi Amedeo Della Valle e Jeff Brooks" [Italy: Amedeo Della Valle and Jeff Brooks will join the team today] (in Italian). Sportando.basketball. 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Penn State Bio". Archived from the original on 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2014-07-05.
  3. ^ Aurora Basket Jesi lands rookie Jeff Brooks
  4. ^ Cantu tabs forward Brooks
  5. ^ Juve Caserta announce Jeff Brooks
  6. ^ Roster for All-Star Game Italia named
  7. ^ Dinamo Sassari announces Jeff Brooks
  8. ^ Avtodor inks versatile forward Brooks
  9. ^ Jeff Brooks joins Unicaja Malaga
  10. ^ "7DAYS EuroCup Finals, Game 3: Unicaja Malaga is the champion!". Eurocupbasketball.com. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  11. ^ "Olimpia Milano officially signs Jeff Brooks". Sportando. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Olimpia Milano officially signs Jeff Brooks". EuroLeague.net. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  13. ^ Borghesan, Ennio Terrasi (June 11, 2020). "Milano forward Jeff Brooks confirms "Round 3 is official"". Sportando. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  14. ^ "Ufficiale: l'Umana Reyer firma Jeff Brooks!" (in Italian). reyer.it. 1 July 2021.
  15. ^ Saraceno, Alessandro (April 10, 2018). "Esclusiva BU, Jeff Brooks: "Vorrei giocare per l'Italia! Sassari? Sarei voluto restare ma…"". BasketUniverso (in Italian). Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  16. ^ "Jeff Brooks officially gets Italian passport, will join Italy's NT training camp Sunday". Sportando.basketball. September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  17. ^ "Jeffrey Brooks È Il Primo Innesto Della Pallacanestro Trieste". Sportando. July 1, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
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