Brooks McKowen

The Moonlight Graham Show

All-time leading scorer and role player don’t really fit in the same sentence. But in the case of this week’s Moonlighter, they are both a part of his story. Brooks McKowen graduated high school having set a new standard for Iowa high school basketball players. While at UNI he became a new player. When he hung up the sneakers, he found another role holding a clipboard. No matter what role he takes on, Brooks McKowen continues to find success on the basketball court.

Brooks McKowen grew up in smalltown Iowa and absolutely dominated high school basketball for his four-year career. McKowen set a state record by scoring over 2,800 points in his career and set the season mark with 1,002 in his senior year alone. The individual records weren’t really on his radar until he was entering his senior year though. He just wanted to win. McKowen put Wapsie Valley on the map and had the state of Iowa keeping track of him as he made his way into the record books.

McKowen was a 6’2 guard who was putting up 35 and 11 each night in high school. Coming from a small school, and in the era before social media, McKowen’s recruiting process was really different than what his own players go through today. He started 117 games for UNI in his 4 years. He was a key player for the Panthers as they went to 3 NCAA tournaments. But instead of being a scorer, he became a role player averaging 7 points and 3 assists per game over the course of his career while playing for Greg McDermott and Ben Jacobson.

That transition has helped him become the successful head coach that he is today. When he was finished playing for Ben Jacobson, he traded his jersey for a clipboard and served as a graduate assistant and later as an assistant coach for the Panthers. After stops in DMACC and Southwest Minnesota State, McKowen took on another new role as the head coach for the Upper Iowa University. UIU is the only D-2 school in the state and McKowen puts an emphasis on recruiting Iowa-born and bred players. McKowen knows that smalltown kids will thrive in smalltown Fayette, Iowa. In his 9 years at UIU, the Peacocks have won 150 games and set the school record for wins twice. This past season they were 22-6 and made it to the NCAA D II Central Regional Semifinals. The outlook for this 2022-2023 is very bright as he returns a lot of talent.