I spoke with Darrell Brooks this afternoon, who said that yes, he is officially heading to Bowie State to head up their men’s basketball program, ending a few weeks of unconfirmed speculation based on a previous report. He said the contract has been signed and an official announcement from the university will be coming shortly.

Brooks, who played guard for at the Division II school from 1975 to 1979 and was an assistant at his alma mater during the 1984-85 season, said he is excited about the prospect of heading up a program that has been such an integral part of his basketball career.

“It’s one of those things where it was an obvious fit for me,” Brooks said. “It just made so much sense.”

After a year as the head coach at Western Maryland College, Brooks joined GW head coach Karl Hobbs’s staff when he arrived in Foggy Bottom for the 2001-02 season. Brooks said Hobbs was very supportive of him taking the top job at Bowie State, a role for which he said his then-boss prepared him well at GW.

“He gave me the opportunity to do every single thing that you need to do as a coach,” Brooks said, explaining that his duties ranged from game preparation and in-game coaching to recruiting and scheduling. During a 2005 tour of Australia, Brooks said Hobbs let him take the reins and coach a string of games himself.

Drawing from his experience with the Colonials, Brooks said he plans to bring “GW-like” defensive pressure to the Bulldogs, but that his offensive strategy will rely more on motion sets. He said he plans to utilize his skills as a communicator and emphasize the academic aspects of his players’ lives as well.

Though he called the decision to take the job offer “a no-brainer,” Brooks still said the process of leaving the school where he had spent the past eight seasons was not entirely easy.

“It’s always tough leaving a place that you love,” Brooks said, noting that the most difficult part was informing current GW players he would be leaving. “But I’m very, very excited.”