Henry-Brooks Continues to Play Big for the Commodores

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It was the perfect idea.

The first game of the 2020 season, Keyon Brooks would take the field in his familiar No. 21 uniform. Only now the name on the back would read Keyon Henry-Brooks, an homage to the running back’s father who has played such an integral part of Brooks’ life.

Only problem was Carey Henry, constantly reading about his son online and checking social media online for any updates, already saw the name change.

“Me and my mother were on (a video call) and I was telling her about what I was doing with the names and I told her I wanted to surprise him the first game,” Henry-Brooks said. “But she told me he had been going through social media and had already seen it and was just scrolling and was like, ‘Oh, Keyon changed his last names.’ He’s always looking through stuff like that.”

That preseason glitch is about the only thing that has gone wrong this season for the emerging Vandy running back.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Brooks is averaging 4.5 yards per carry in three games. Last week at Mississippi State he totaled 115 yards on the ground and racked up 97 receiving yards.

Those numbers will only help the confidence level of the affable Henry-Brooks, who is more comfortable navigating life as a Commodore while showing off two of the most-important people in his life on the back of his jersey.

“My father played a big part in my life growing up. He was always there,” Henry-Brooks said. “I felt like for all the things he did, and especially not using his name last year, going into my sophomore year I just felt like I should do something for him.

“Taking his name onto a big stage to me was the best way of showing that.”

Henry-Brooks opted to attend Kennesaw Mountain High School in Kennesaw, Georgia, going into his freshman year of his school. That choice meant a 30-minute trip from his home in Powder Springs, Georgia, every morning. Since Carey Henry also had to go work early on those school days, that meant dropping his son at KMHS well before the doors opened.

The Mustangs got a budding star in Henry-Brooks, who rushed for more than 3,659 yards for his career and scored 36 times. One game his senior season he nearly totaled 500 all-purpose yards.

But football wasn’t always the given path for Henry-Brooks. He played basketball and other sports as a youth and distinctly remembers his interest in the gridiron waning before a conversation with his mother changed everything.

“I wasn’t really getting as much playing time when I was younger, then there were just other outside sources bringing me down,” Henry-Brooks said. “(My mother) came to me to talk to me about it. After having that conversation with her about it, it really opened my eyes to what I can do and what I should do.”

Henry-Brooks calls mother Kiana Brooks, “his rock.” He was born to her in New Orleans, where they lived until 2005 when Hurricane Katrina forced the family to move to Georgia, where they have been ever since.

During the summer between Henry-Brooks’ sophomore and junior years of high school, he really felt college programs began to take notice. He had joined the track team to develop his speed and scholarship offers begin to trickle in from there.

Henry-Brooks was committed to play at Arkansas State for a long time before ultimately signing with Vanderbilt.

“I think the thing that KB understands and wants to be is a complete back,” Vanderbilt running backs coach Tim Horton said. “He knows he’s a long way from tapping it out in any aspect of his game, whether it’s being more crisp in his route running, or being better on his run keys or being more technically sound in his pass protections.

“I think he really understands that, ‘I want to be a complete player,’ and I think he’s really focused on all aspects of his game.”

Henry-Brooks appeared in 11 of 12 games during the 2019 season and admits he wasn’t expecting to play as much before injuries at the position moved him up the depth chart. He got 56 carries, totaled 252 yards (4.5 ypc) and scored on a 61-yard run against Northern Illinois.

Off the field, however, Henry-Brooks procrastinated and didn’t take his academics as seriously as he knew he should. So he made a commitment to set that aspect of his life right in 2020, declared a sociology major with a minor in psychology and has hopes of joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation one day.

“This year I changed my mind – I want to be an all-A student this year. That’s my goal,” he said. “I’m trying real hard to stay on top of things school-wise.”

Vanderbilt (0-5, 0-5 SEC) heads to Kentucky (2-4, 2-4 SEC) this week for an 11 a.m. CT contest Saturday and will once again be leaning on Henry-Brooks to make big-time plays for its offense. Vandy has handed the ball off to Henry-Brooks 43 times the last two weeks and completed 16 passes (for 186 yards) to the explosive weapon.

Those numbers have been key for the Commodores, who continue to see the growth of a young man who may have a new name but the same amount of potential.

“I think the biggest thing is he’s got a lot more game experience,” Horton said. “He’s always had a good skill set in terms of ability to run the ball and catch the ball and do what you need to do as a running back, but you’re seeing that experience kind of really benefit him in terms of pass protection and how to run a route or how to read a particular blocking scheme or things like that.

“I think it’s been very beneficial and I think he’ll just continue to really grow and develop.”

Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com. Follow him @MrChadBishop.