Zach Brooker is a Sophomore at the University of Southern California who plays basketball and studies Business Administration. While he doesn’t exactly fit the typical description of a Division-I athlete being 6 feet, his undersized physique is what he prides himself on.
Brooker attended Sierra Canyon High School and played al\ong professional basketball players in the NBA Cassius Stanley, Kenyon Martin Jr., Christian Koloko, and Scotty Pippen Jr. It hasn’t always been an easy route for him.
Being undersized, he had to find things that would differentiate himself. Brooker explains, “ I pride myself on my effort, attitude, and energy. Those are the things I can control and be as good as a teammate as possible. When you buy in, it can change a lot.” He mentioned he looks up to guys like Kyle Lowry and FredVleet ” those guys are just competitors. They do all the dirty work and show it’s possible for guys like us.”
Brooker played at Sierra Canyon high school with a loaded Division-I and NBA talent roster and bought into his role off the bench.
Brooker’s ability to buy into his role and excel at it ultimately led to his success. At Sierra Canyon, he excelled as a 3-point sharpshooter and in defensive matchups. Brooker wasn’t worried about praise or being the scoring leader but ultimately doing the little things to be a “glue guy” and help the team win.
Former Sierra Canyon guard Zach Brooker is at USC in his first season. I remember Coach Andre Chevalier telling me after games how important Zach was to the team. This is cool to see.
— David Mendez-Yapkowitz (@Dave_Yapkowitz) October 14, 2021
Brooker is currently on the University of Southern California Men’s Basketball team and is translating his skills from high school to the program. Whatever his role is, he wants to succeed to the best of his capabilities by doing all he can to represent the school well.
The message he wants to send to young kids who believe their path is not always as easy is to “keep their head down and just focus on yourself.” He mentioned it is easier to focus on yourself and keep improving rather than focusing on others.
Brooker sat alongside his USC teammates Malik Thomas, Reese Dixon-Waters, and Kobe Johnson.
Brooker also stresses the importance of working as hard as you can. He says, “If you worked as hard as you can, you will have no regrets..you left and gave everything you could.” He believes that working hard is the key to success and that everyone has a place somewhere.
Brooker looks to give back to the youth in the future, whether it is through camps or other opportunities. Be on the lookout as he continues his career at USC.
