By Jimmy Robertson
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Nearly every coach remembers his or her losses more vividly than the victories. For obvious reasons, those tend to sting more so than the elation of a win. After all, wins, for many coaches, tend to be more of a relief.
But Kenny Brooks should remember fondly his day on the sideline here at the Greensboro Coliseum on Wednesday afternoon.
The Virginia Tech women's basketball head coach had little to complain about, as his Hokies – playing arguably their best basketball of the season – totally destroyed Wake Forest 85-63 in the first round of the ACC Tournament. The win took the Hokies to the second round of the conference's annual shindig and enabled them to reach the esteemed 20-win threshold for the season.
Yet maybe just as importantly, this victory marked the 400th of Brooks' coaching career.
Brooks wasn't aware of the pending milestone going into this one, but his assistants and his players arrived prepared for the occasion. The postgame celebration consisted of balloons and large quantities of water and Gatorade dousing, all of which was directed at their beloved head coach.
"It was great fashion to do it in, especially with the stakes so high," a soggy Brooks said afterward. "A couple of the water bottles sprayed a little longer. Maybe they were getting back at me for a few things, but it was good. To do it with this group in this fashion … we've been through a lot this year. We're starting to put the pieces together. We're playing our best basketball at the right time, and I'm very proud of these kids."
Typical of his nature, Brooks downplayed the achievement, and for sure, Tech's next game comes against a much tougher foe in less than 24 hours, leaving little time for a longer party. Still, Wednesday's accomplishment was noteworthy.
After all, Brooks now has coached 14 consecutive teams to 20 wins or more – three at Virginia Tech and 11 at James Madison, his previous stop. Anyone in the profession would consider that an incredible feat, and Brooks continues to push himself along a path toward the level of the elites in college basketball coaching.
Though a veteran in the profession, Brooks just turned 50 in December. Some would say that he just entered his peak years as a head coach.
"I don't always look like a young guy. I told the official in the last game that I think I've aged like Obama in his presidency," Brooks laughed. "But it's been a tremendous run, and we're looking forward to a lot more."
He has the Hokies trending in the right direction. Yes, a senior-laden team only won six ACC games this season, but the Hokies lost a bunch of close games to open conference play during a disastrous January. Not that they lost to dogs, mind you. Of those seven losses, five came to teams currently ranked in the top 25.
Brooks – and his staff – somehow kept this team afloat after an 0-7 start to league play. The Hokies closed the regular season by winning six of their final nine games, including their final two – home victories over Virginia and Wake Forest.
"You hope it's not too late," Brooks said. "We had a very bad month of January. We just haven't been healthy. We don't know where the pieces are going to lay. Rachel Camp's injury and Alexis Jean coming back and trying to put her in to the rotation … It just really hasn't felt comfortable until the last couple of weeks. Now we're starting to play well, and hopefully, we can have a good showing here and show everybody who we are and what we can do. If we can get that coveted NCAA spot, we're the kind of team that can win games. Hopefully, we can continue on this run and do something special."
They certainly got off to a strong postseason start with Wednesday's annihilation of Wake Forest. Tech scored a season-best 55 points in the first half and led by 25 at halftime. The Hokies shared the ball arguably as well as they have all season, and as a result, shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
They continued to press the accelerator in the second half, pushing their lead to 32 points. Brooks even sat stars Regan Magarity and Taylor Emery for large chunks of the second half, resting them for Thursday's game against Clemson while getting a sneak peak of next season's squad. Combinations of Dara Mabrey, Aisha Sheppard, Kendyl Brooks and Trinity Baptiste – all returners – saw extensive time together.
Tech's immediate future – Thursday – hinges on Magarity and Emery. They, of course, delivered against the Deacons, though neither played more than 28 minutes. Emery scored 26 points and Magarity finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Tech handed out 19 assists on 28 field goals and only turned the ball over 11 times. It also out-rebounded Wake Forest 49-34.
Just quality basketball all the way around. Tournament basketball, if you will.
"We've been putting pieces together all season," Emery said. "All season, we've been trying to get people in the right spots and know where each belong. I think we've done a really good job, especially with closing out games. We've done a better job in our past 10 [games] of closing out games. We've played really well together as a team."
The evidence was on full display Wednesday. And the game ball after this victory likely will reside in Brooks' office, neighbors with others from games past – his 100th win, 200th win, 300th win, his first victory at Tech, and the like.
On paper, Tech's dismantling of Wake Forest was simply a first-round ACC Tournament win. Yet rest assured, for Brooks, this victory will be remembered for quite some time.