Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2022
- Class:
- 1952
Alton "Tunney" Brooks is the 2022 Wake Forest Hall of Fame Heritage Honoree inductee. Brooks, a native of Wilson, N.C., played baseball and basketball for the Demon Deacons from 1949-52. During his senior year in 1952, Brooks was named the baseball and basketball team captain.
Brooks finished his baseball career at Wake Forest hitting .243 for his career with 2 home runs and 43 RBIs. His best offensive season was 1951 when he hit .333 (8-24). He was slated to be Wake Forest’s starting catcher in 1951 when the team represented the USA at the Pan American Games.
Brooks was the second-leading scorer on the 1951-52 basketball team at 11.6 points per game behind only Dickie Hemric. He scored 789 points in his 3-year varsity career.
After graduation, Brooks went on to a successful high school coaching career including stops at Edenton Holmes and Lumberton. He coached football, basketball and baseball at Edenton Holmes from 1953-58 where he won football state championships in 1954, 1956, and 1957.
He then coached football, basketball and baseball at Lumberton High from 1960-1989 where he went 73-39 in football and won eight consecutive conference championships from 1962-69. In basketball, Brooks led his teams to four conference championships and was twice named the North Carolina high school coach of the year.
Brooks served as Athletics Director at Lumberton for 30 years where the football stadium bears his name. He was named to the North Carolina Athletic Directors Hall of Fame in 2005 and was inducted into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2010
