Alton “Tunney” Brooks Career Personifies Spirit of Pro Humanitate
12/18/2021 12:00:00 PM | General
Alton “Tunney” Brooks will be posthumously inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame this spring.
More than 200 guests assembled for a 2010 presentation ceremony for Lumberton High School football, baseball, and basketball coach Alton "Tunney" Brooks — with former students and players honoring a three-decade career of coaching the Pirates.
"The A.G. Tunney Brooks" was unveiled at this event, a hand-crafted, museum quality, detailed pirate ship that is still to this day housed in a glass case in the Lumberton High hallway. It was built by Dave Bullock at approximately 1:25 scale, more than five-feet wide and tall, and trimmed in Lumberton's maroon and gold colors.
Brooks' journey began at Wake Forest University, where he was both a baseball and basketball team captain as a senior in 1952, finishing second in scoring on the hoops team behind All-American Dickie Hemric. The Wilson, N.C. native scored 789 career points on the hardwood for the Demon Deacons.
On the diamond, Brooks was a catcher, and he was slated to start at that position when Wake Forest represented the United States in the 1951 Pan-American Games. However, he injured his thumb in the first game and missed the rest of the tournament and several weeks of the ensuing college season due to that injury.
He later went on to have a brief professional baseball career, playing 32 games for the Mooresville Moors.
Brooks will be inducted as part of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2021-22 as he was selected by the 2021 Heritage Committee that looks to induct a former student-athlete or coach who left the University at least 40 years ago.
Although he experienced tremendous competitive success himself, it was his career as a teacher, coach and athletic director that really set Brooks apart. He coached football, basketball, and baseball at Edenton Holmes from 1953-58, and won state titles in 1954, '56 and '57.
Lumberton High School became his home, as he coached those same three sports and served as athletic director in a storied career that lasted from 1960-89. He won eight-straight football conference titles and claimed four in basketball while he earned North Carolina Coach of the Year honors twice.
Brooks was inducted in the North Carolina Athletic Directors Hall of Fame in 2005, and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2010. The Football Stadium at Lumberton High School bears his name.
Brooks passed on May 4, 2012 at the age of 84, just a couple years after the Lumberton High School ceremony where the pirate ship named in his honor was unveiled.
David Bullock, who was a former student-athlete that played for Brooks at Lumberton, wrote the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee in support of Brooks' induction.
"Few people could have represented their alma mater with such great distinction and pride throughout their career as our Coach "Tunney" Brooks," Bullock wrote.
When Bullock heard of Brooks' terminal illness, he set upon using his hobby of building model ships to honor the beloved coach.
"Once the word got out into the community, the financial support of this project was absolutely overwhelming," he wrote. "We had to appoint a trustee to manage the constant flow of contributions coming in from hundreds of former students."
It turns out, the contributions led to an endowment scholarship fund of $100,000 in Brooks' name.
"The most wonderful part of this amazing story is that Coach Brooks, upon learning of the project, promised me he would attend the presentation ceremony," Bullock wrote. "And he kept that promise."
"The A.G. Tunney Brooks" was unveiled at this event, a hand-crafted, museum quality, detailed pirate ship that is still to this day housed in a glass case in the Lumberton High hallway. It was built by Dave Bullock at approximately 1:25 scale, more than five-feet wide and tall, and trimmed in Lumberton's maroon and gold colors.
Brooks' journey began at Wake Forest University, where he was both a baseball and basketball team captain as a senior in 1952, finishing second in scoring on the hoops team behind All-American Dickie Hemric. The Wilson, N.C. native scored 789 career points on the hardwood for the Demon Deacons.
On the diamond, Brooks was a catcher, and he was slated to start at that position when Wake Forest represented the United States in the 1951 Pan-American Games. However, he injured his thumb in the first game and missed the rest of the tournament and several weeks of the ensuing college season due to that injury.
He later went on to have a brief professional baseball career, playing 32 games for the Mooresville Moors.
Brooks will be inducted as part of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2021-22 as he was selected by the 2021 Heritage Committee that looks to induct a former student-athlete or coach who left the University at least 40 years ago.
Although he experienced tremendous competitive success himself, it was his career as a teacher, coach and athletic director that really set Brooks apart. He coached football, basketball, and baseball at Edenton Holmes from 1953-58, and won state titles in 1954, '56 and '57.
Lumberton High School became his home, as he coached those same three sports and served as athletic director in a storied career that lasted from 1960-89. He won eight-straight football conference titles and claimed four in basketball while he earned North Carolina Coach of the Year honors twice.
Brooks was inducted in the North Carolina Athletic Directors Hall of Fame in 2005, and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2010. The Football Stadium at Lumberton High School bears his name.
Brooks passed on May 4, 2012 at the age of 84, just a couple years after the Lumberton High School ceremony where the pirate ship named in his honor was unveiled.
David Bullock, who was a former student-athlete that played for Brooks at Lumberton, wrote the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee in support of Brooks' induction.
"Few people could have represented their alma mater with such great distinction and pride throughout their career as our Coach "Tunney" Brooks," Bullock wrote.
When Bullock heard of Brooks' terminal illness, he set upon using his hobby of building model ships to honor the beloved coach.
"Once the word got out into the community, the financial support of this project was absolutely overwhelming," he wrote. "We had to appoint a trustee to manage the constant flow of contributions coming in from hundreds of former students."
It turns out, the contributions led to an endowment scholarship fund of $100,000 in Brooks' name.
"The most wonderful part of this amazing story is that Coach Brooks, upon learning of the project, promised me he would attend the presentation ceremony," Bullock wrote. "And he kept that promise."
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