Tony Hooks graduated from Bates with a 3.74 GPA and a degree in politics with a concentration in political economy and a minor in Africana. A member of the Bobcats' football team, Hooks was a College Sports Communicators Football Academic All-District selection and winner of the Bates Senior Scholar Award and the Charles A. Dana Scholar Award.

Hooks participated in the Bates Investment Club, the Bates Athletes of Color Coalition, and the Bates Athletics Agents of Change Club. He also volunteered for a bone marrow drive and Meals on Wheels during his time in Lewiston.

A two-time team MVP, Hooks was named to the All-NESCAC First Team Defense twice and led the conference in tackles as a junior and senior. He also collected all-region honors in 2022 and set a Bates record for most tackles in a single game (23) during the 2022 season. Hooks was a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy given out by the National Football Foundation and honored with the Scholar-Athlete Award by the Maine Chapter of the National Football Foundation. The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston presented Hooks with the Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Award, the fourth oldest award in college football. The "Swede" was first given in 1946 for "exceptional achievement in sportsmanship, academics, and athletics," and is preceded only by the Heisman, Maxwell and the Gridiron Club's own George "Bulger" Lowe award among college football accolades, according to the club.

Following graduation, Hooks began working as an Equity Research Associate at Fidelity Investments.