Brooks, a high-profile recruit out of Franklin High School in Seattle, "earned just about every honor possible" while leading his team to the Washington 4A State Championship as a senior.

[2] In that championship game, Brooks went head-to-head with future Gonzaga Bulldog and two-time NBA champion Adam Morrison.

He led the Ducks to a number of key victories, including game winners over then #1 ranked UCLA and then #10 Arizona in Tucson.

Brooks scored a team high 31 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in an overtime road win against then top 25 ranked Washington State, helping to hand the Cougars their first home loss of the 2006–07 season.

At the half-way mark of Pac-10 conference play, Brooks was averaging 19.1 points and 4.5 assists per game in leading Oregon to a top 10 ranking and a 19–2 overall record.

The Ducks went on to finish and tie for third place in the Pac-10 conference, and won the Pac-10 Championship tournament following an impressive three-day run over Arizona, Cal and USC.

Brooks was announced as one of 22 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, which is given to the top college basketball player in the nation.

He won the men's three point shootout on March 29, 2007, to finish off his NCAA career, but lost the "battle of the sexes" to Katie Gearlds of Purdue University.

Brooks scored a then career-high 34 points in Game 4 of the 2009 Western Conference semi-finals as the Rockets, without Yao Ming, defeated the Los Angeles Lakers to even the series at 2–2.

On January 13, 2010, Brooks scored a new career high of 43 points in a triple overtime win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

[6][7] On January 6, 2012, Brooks scored 40 points while playing 38 minutes off the bench as Guangdong defeated the Tianjin Ronggang 110–97.

Brooks led the team in assists for each game leading up to the 2012 CBA Finals, where they lost to the Stephon Marbury-led Beijing Ducks.

[15] On June 30, 2013, he was waived by the Rockets,[16] but on July 19, 2013, he rejoined the team, reaching an agreement on a one-year minimum contract.

[23] On October 28, 2019, he was ruled out for the rest of the season after tearing his left Achilles tendon in a game the previous day.