Alton “Tunney” Brooks, who compiled an impressive record as a coach in several sports, has died after a period of declining health.
No details are yet available. Brooks joined the NCHSAA Hall of Fame in the class of 2010-11.
A graduate of Wilson’s Charles Coon High and a two-sport captain at Wake Forest, Brooks coached at Holmes from 1953 to ’57 and then went to Lumberton as head baseball and basketball coach and assistant football coach. His teams won 291 games in men’s basketball and a number of conference titles, and the also wound up serving 10 years as head football coach at Lumberton with a 72-41-4 slate.
On top of his coaching he served athletic director at Lumberton for 30 years, from 1960 until his retirement in 1989.
Brooks was the Civitan Outstanding Citizen of Robeson County in 1970, and the Lumberton High School football stadium was named in his honor in 1992.