Brooks golf tourney coming

The second annual UC Irvine/Scott Brooks Golf Invitational is set for Sept. 18 at The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach.

Brooks, a former standout basketball player at UCI and head coach of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder for the past four seasons, is scheduled to attend the tournament that raises funds to support student-athlete scholarships at UCI.

UCI head coaches and student-athletes from each of the university’s 18 NCAA Division I sports will also be in attendance at the event. The tournament includes a shotgun start at noon. The fee includes golf, cart, range balls, lunch, post-golf reception and a silent auction.

For sponsorship inquiries and information on the UCI/Scott Brooks Golf Invitational, please contact Kerry Boznanski at (949) 824-5550 or kboznans@uci.edu.

Brooks led the Thunder to the NBA Finals this season for the first time since 1996 when the franchise was located in Seattle. He has guided Oklahoma City to the NBA playoffs each of the last three years and the Western Conference Finals the last two seasons, including a 4-2 series win over the San Antonio Spurs this year.

Brooks received the Red Auerbach NBA Coach of the Year Award for the 2009-10 season when he led the Thunder to a 27-win improvement from the previous season.

He played two seasons with the ‘Eaters (1985-87), averaging 23.8 points as a senior in 1986-87 when he was named first team All-PCAA (now Big West). He scored 43 points on opening night of the Bren Events Center Jan. 8, 1987, when UCI defeated Utah State, 118-96. Brooks scored 41 points later that season in a 90-79 victory at Pacific Feb. 21, 1987.

He still holds the UCI record for career free-throw percentage at .859 (220 of 256). As a junior in 1985-86, he set what remains the Anteater single-season record for free-throw percentage at .886 (78 of 88).

Brooks ranks No. 4 in UCI history in career steals (123) and seventh in three-point field goals made (142).

He played 11 seasons in the NBA, winning a championship with the Houston Rockets in 1994.

— From staff reports