About this episode

Wes Brooks discusses his journey and strategies for rebuilding the Utah State basketball program.

Utah State head coach Wes Brooks shares insights on his challenges and solutions. Learn more about his journey from assistant coach to head coach, sharing his approach to rebuilding the Utah State program after two challenging seasons. He explained his offensive philosophy centered on "fist and flash" gameplay, spacing concepts (single, double, triple), and teaching players to read defenses rather than running specific plays. Wes detailed how he's implemented this system over four weeks of summer practice, emphasizing the importance of spacing, player development, and mental performance coaching. He discussed the psychology of coaching through challenges, the importance of resources and priorities, and his vision for building a championship program in the new Pac-12 conference. Brooks brings 20 years of collegiate experience with him to Utah State, most recently serving as an assistant coach at Ohio State. He previously worked as an assistant at Michigan, Utah, North Texas, Texas Southern and Robert Morris, and as a graduate assistant and director of basketball operations at West Virginia. In all, he has helped 11 teams to postseason berths with eight NCAA Tournament appearances…

People in this episode

Host: Chris Oliver

Guest: Wes Brooks

Topics covered

• coaching
• basketball strategy
• player development
• offensive philosophy
• program rebuilding
• mental performance

Keywords

• Utah State
• Wes Brooks
• basketball coaching
• offensive philosophy
• player development
• Pac-12
• spacing concepts
• mental performance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Utah State, Ohio State, Michigan, Utah, North Texas, Texas Southern, Robert Morris, West Virginia, Pac-12

More episodes of The Basketball Podcast

• Steve Scalzi on Coaching Methodology and Constraints (EP441) · September 9, 2026 · 52 min
• Ryan Marchand on Dynamic, Adaptable Coaching (EP440) · September 2, 2026 · 52 min
• Eric Konkol on Attitude, Commitment, Class (EP439) · August 26, 2026 · 54 min
• Justin Wetzel on CEO of Player Development · August 19, 2026 · 55 min
• Allen Sharpe on Simplicity, Accountability and 1-on-1 Defense (EP437) · August 12, 2026 · 46 min
• John Shulman on Uncommon Coaching (EP436) · August 5, 2026 · 52 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Basketball Podcast podcast page.