St. John Vianney Star Zoe Brooks Shines at WNBA All-Star Weekend

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Zoe Brooks has played in every big stage imaginable in New Jersey High School basketball as a star on the St. John Vianney girls basketball powerhouse, so it’s no surprise when a chance to showcase herself to a national audience, Brooks did not disappoint.

During WNBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago this past weekend, Brooks teamed with New York Liberty All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu to win Saturday’s WNBA Skills Challenge.

For her St. John Vianney teammates and opponents around New Jersey, it couldn’t have been much of a surprise to watch Brooks calmly pass and weave her way through the competition. It was certainly no surprise to Brooks.

“I know how to do what I do,” Brooks told revered ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe. “I do what I do and I just come out here and have fun.”

Brooks was one of eight high-school players from the Elite Youth Basketball League paired with a WNBA All-Star to compete in the competition and both Brooks and Ionescu were fortunate to draw one another for the competition.

The Ionescu-Brooks duo advanced through the first two rounds of the competition and posted the best time of the competition in the championship round.

“I had a great partner, which helped,” Ionescu said. “I told myself I wasn’t going to get too competitive, but I got really competitive. I’m happy we won.”

Brooks’s showcase on Saturday was part of a big offseason for the Lancers rising senior. Last month, she announced her non-binding commitment to play at North Carolina State once she wraps up her high school career in Holmdel.

As a junior in 2021-22, Brooks was a huge part of one of the best teams in the history of high school girls basketball in New Jersey. Along with 2022 graduate and incoming Princeton freshman Madison St. Rose, Brooks was one half of a dominant one-two punch that was surrounded by a talented, unselfish, cohesive supporting cast. During her all-state junior campaign, Brooks put up 18.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.8 steals per game while helping lead the Lancers to a 32-1 mark, an NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title and a top-five national ranking in multiple polls.

Brooks transferred to St. John Vianney from Trenton Catholic ahead of the 2021-22 season and has positioned herself as one of New Jersey’s top players and among the top 50 players nationally. According to ESPN, Brooks is the No. 33 player in the Class of 2022 – second in New Jersey behind Paul VI guard Hannah Hidalgo (No. 5).

Ionescu -- the No. 1 overall pick in 2020 by the Liberty out of Oregon -- posted 19 points, six rebounds and six assists on Sunday in the All-Star Game, helping Team (A'ja) Wilson to a 132-114 win.