About Inductee

Isaac Rooks, who was born in Madison County on Nov. 6, 1928, was a distinguished educator in the Huntsville school system for many years. But he will always be remembered for his voice. For more than 40 years, Rooks has been the play-by-play announcer for the football and basketball teams at Alabama A&M University. "I was always interested in radio and sports, even as a child," says Rooks. "I knew about some of the great sportscasters of that day, such as Bill Stern, Harry Wismer and others. It was the legendary coach Adam Kellam who gave me my first big opportunity when he asked me to keep statistics and be the field announcer at the old W. C. Councill High School football field," says Rooks. In 1960, not long after Leroy Garrett bought radio station WEUP in Huntsville, Rooks began calling Alabama A&M football. Except for a brief period in the late 1980s and early '90s, he has been the "Voice of the Bulldogs". An honor student at Councill High from 1942-46, Rooks graduated Cum Laude from Alabama A&M in 1950. In 1963, he received a Master of Arts degree in Education Administration from Teacher College, Columbia University of New York Rooks has been a teacher-coach in basketball and track at Madison County High, a teacher at Councill, a principal at West End Elementary, and also served in several key administrative positions within the Huntsville city schools system prior to his retirement. In 1965, he founded and developed the Athletic Boosters Club (ABC) of Huntsville, which introduced the first sports hall of Fame in Huntsville and Madison County. He was named to the ABC Hall of Fame in 1981 and to the Alabama A&M Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2000, he was given a Special Achievement Award by the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame, and this year becomes an inductee into that organization. Ike Rooks only has three rules that have stayed with him through his broadcast career. "Never say anything that you wouldn't normally say (you never know when you're on the air). Never criticize the officials and always give opposing players their due when it's deserved. " Rooks is married to longtime educator Nancy Palmer Rooks. They have a son, Isaac III, also a school administrator.