Richard E.T. Brooks, a resident of Cohasset, Mass., has been elected to the Northeastern Hall of Fame for his achievement in the sport of basketball and his long-standing commitment to the University.
A 1957 graduate, Brooks was one of New England's premier basketball players in the seasons of 1954-55 and 1955-56. As the team's starting center his junior year, he had the honor of participating in the first tip-off at the newly constructed Northeastern Gym (later named Cabot Gym) on Dec. 4, 1954. That season, under the tutelage of basketball coach Joe Zabilski, Brooks scored 313 points for a 15-point average and became the defensive anchor of the NU five. He also put his 6'6 frame to good use, becoming the team's top rebounder. That distinction was evident in a 66-60 upset over Springfield as Brooks set an NU record with 21 boards, a mark that remained untouched for another decade.
In his senior season Brooks was elected team captain. The highlight of his final campaign was a 62-51 upset of local powerhouse Boston College. The key to the game came when BC's star player fouled out after registering his fifth straight charging call trying to drive by Brooks. With his defensive prowess and standout offensive skills, Brooks became the master of the double-double, a phrase that wouldn't become commonplace for decades. He finished the season with 318 points, maintaining his average of 15 per game, while also keeping up his reputation as one of the region's strongest performers on the boards. Though rebounding was a seldom-kept statistic in the '50s, Brooks would have consistently recorded double-figure totals.
His college basketball career ended with honors and opportunities. Brooks was selected to play in the first New England College All-Star game and was the contest's second-highest scorer, netting 11 points. In the fall of 1956 he was invited to try out for the Boston Celtics with other rookies like Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, Sam Jones, and K.C. Jones. After a week he took Coach Red Auerbach's advice: "Forget about the NBA and go for the MBA."
Brooks' academic career managed to outshine his athletic achievements. He maintained Dean's List honors in every quarter and graduated with the top award for a Northeastern senior, the Alcott Memorial Award for All-Around Excellence. His subsequent business career has been meteoric. After serving for two decades as a top executive at Polaroid he founded Chem Design in 1982 and turned it into a $100 million-a-year corporation.
