Feb 3, 2017
The Starting Five: Brooks on thriving with the Ducks
Canadian forward Dillon Brooks making a major impact in the NCAA with the University of Oregon.
By Duane Watson
The Starting Five is a series of conversations with five elite Canadian basketball players who are competing at the prep school, U Sports, NCAA and NBA level. Every other week, a Canadian player will share his or her personal perspective on the game and the challenges they face both on and off the court.
Dillon Brooks isn’t supposed to be here. While he’s arguably the best Canadian playing in the NCAA right now – particularly after a season that saw him lead the University of Oregon to a PAC-12 Championship, a number-one seed in the NCAA Tournament and a spot in the Elite 8 after defeating Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils – the Mississauga, Ont., native wasn’t actively recruited coming out of high school.
After shining at Father Henry Carr in Etobicoke, Ont., Brooks transferred to Findlay Prep in Las Vegas in 2013. He struggled to find minutes playing behind Kelly Oubre and Rashad Vaughn, who both went on to become McDonald’s All-Americans. Finishing the season with middling stats of 8.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, his best scholarship offer was from Miami University (of Ohio), which his coach suggested he accept.
Resilient and uncompromising, the forward worked hard over the summer as a standout on the AAU circuit with CIA Bounce and at the FIBA Americas U18 championships, where he led Canada to a silver medal as a top scorer at the tournament with 25.2 points per game. Oregon took notice, and the rest is history.
Brooks didn’t get a chance to pick up where he left on last year’s storybook season. This past summer he was diagnosed with a fractured left foot. The injury not only kept him off the national team in their quest for the Olympics, but the subsequent surgery and rehab also forced him to miss the first three games of this season. 
The Ducks lost twice in their first four games, but went on a 17-game win streak over the next two months. Brooks was named NCAA Player of the Week during that run, but also missed a game with a sprained left foot.
The ups and downs haven’t rattled Brooks, who has been battling them his whole career. He also knows more adversity lies ahead in his basketball career.
On the biggest game of the season
“I have to go with UCLA. You’re playing against the No. 2 team in the country at home and hitting a game-winner in the dying seconds. I missed a lot of game-winners and I was working hard for this one. I missed a championship game-winner at Henry Carr in high school, so getting this one meant so much to me. It meant a lot to this community and the players on the team. A lot of those people in the Matthew Knight Arena have never been a part of something like that and I’m glad I was able to make it happen.”
On the season thus far
“This season hasn’t been any different than the past seasons, but it’s been the most fun. It’s really been testing me as a man and testing my character and playing through adversity. There’s going to be a lot of trials and you got to fight through.”
On “The Flop”
“It was something that happened in the Utah game. I lost my balance and I flailed and I jumped. I could never recreate that moment. Now that I look back at it, I see it as humorous and funny. It’s just something that happened and went viral. I didn’t want to slam my foot on the floor [after just getting out of a walking boot that week], so I kind of hopped and landed on my body more. But the way it looks, I flailed and got pushed by a ghost.”
On playing with his heart on his sleeve
“I definitely think that I do, and some people recognize it and really respect me as a player because it’s not about me being cocky or too confident out there. It’s just me having passion and a love for the game, like any other love, like playing football, or painting art with a lot of passion. It’s just the same thing with more intensity, more will and hard work, and playing the game that way.”
On Oregon’s Canadian connection with Chris Boucher and Dylan Ennis 
“It’s great. My first year here, I was the only Canadian. Now, especially having two of them, it makes me feel like I’m at home. Any time I don’t relate with some of my American counterparts, I have got guys that are there who have been through the same struggle and know the lingo and I can just talk to them. Its great and I’m glad that these guys are here with me.”