Hoops Hello: Eli Brooks Comment Count

Ace



[Photo: GametimePA.com]

Spring Grove (PA) point guard Eli Brooks grew up a Villanova fan and picked up an offer from the defending national champions last week, one of a handful of high-level offers Brooks added during the July evaluation period. Michigan, in need of a 2017 point guard, also offered during that time, and despite not having homecourt advantage, they landed a commitment from Brooks last night.

“(Villanova) was his dream school ever since he was a little boy,” said Brooks’ AAU coach Tony Sagona. “He just felt a better feeling about Michigan.  He really loved Coach Beilein.”

...

“He picked up the offer probably about two weeks ago,” said Sagona. “He was up there a month ago and he loved the school, loved Coach Beilein.  I’ve known coach a long time.  I’ve been doing this 35 years, so I’ve had dealing with coach… his honesty, his integrity, and his reputation. Also his assistant coach (Billy Donlon) did a great job.  "

Brooks is the second commit in the 2017, joining shooting guard Jordan Poole. His commitment leaves Michigan with two open scholarships for the 2017-18 season. As Brendan Quinn covers at MLive, this is Billy Donlan's first major recruiting win as an assistant at Michigan.

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 247 247 Comp
NR PG NR PG NR PG 4*, 90, #23 PG,

#112 Ovr
NR PG

Based on the recent influx of offers, Brooks shouldn't be mostly unranked for long. Thus far, 247 is the only site that's rated Brooks, placing him on the lower end of the four-star spectrum—notably, two spots in the PG rankings behind offeree and recent Wisconsin commit Brad Davison. Meanwhile, ESPN has yet to even give Brooks a profile.

Rivals, Scout, and 247 all list Brooks at 6'1" and 165-175 pounds.

SCOUTING

Brian posted this when Brooks committmed last night but it remains the most comprehensive bit of scouting on him—here's a full eval from City of Basketball Love:

Strengths: In his area, Brooks is known as a scorer, putting up over 25 ppg for Spring Grove High School as a junior. However, his biggest strength is his ability to run a team. Brooks plays the game at a great pace. He never allows the defense to speed him up, and makes his teammates better every time he touches the floor. His jump shot has continued to improve and he his now knocking down outside shots on a consistent basis.

Weaknesses: One concern for Brooks heading into the summer will be his lateral quickness. During the high school season he is not challenged to defend on a consistent basis; it will be interesting to see during the AAU season how he keeps more athletic guards in front of him.

Overall: A super-stock riser over the last few months, Brooks' amazing 2016 summer was capped off with a commitment to Michigan. But he's proven he's a true high-major guard of late -- he's completely unflappable, limits his mistakes as well as anybody around, and is a knockdown shooter from all over the court who also makes his teammates better both in his style of play and his leadership. Has been a winner at every level and will only make a program better at the high-major level, even if he's not a four-year starter.

While Brooks's high school competition isn't top-notch, he performs like you'd expect from a high-major prospect at that level:

“He’s very smooth,” PennLIve.com’s Patrick Strohecker told TheWolverine.com last month. “He’s not physically imposing, but he’s very quick and, at least locally, he dominates games, as he should be doing. He’ll need to put some weight on at the D-I level, but right now, he has no problem taking over games and dominating them.”

The rest of what's out there on Brooks comes from his coaches. His AAU coach gave a nice overview of his game to Sam Webb:

What had the coaches buzzing most about Brooks is ability to score, but desire to get others involved first.  In other words he is the quintessential pass first, shoot second point guard.

“He has a great control of the game,” Sagona said.  “He does nothing that he shouldn’t do as a point guard. No extra dribbles, no toying with the ball, goes by people, plays defense, can shoot… tremendously athletic.”

Brooks's father is his high school coach, and they've worked together to develop his scoring ability on multiple levels:

“He’s a 41 percent three-point shooter, 79 in 29 games, but his midrange game is where we start,” his dad said. “He has a nice 15-foot pull-up. We knew his scoring had to be at three levels, so he can pull up, hit the three and get to the free throw line. He’s an 82 percent free throw shooter and shot over 150 free throws, and he averaged a double double with rebounds. Coach Beilein actually asked if he could dunk, and he said, ‘coach, that’s not a problem.’ He’s athletic. Coach Beilein was surprised by that.

“When you’re not on the [high level] AAU circuit there’s little time for people to really see you, but when they do … he’s not always the flashiest, but he’s making everybody better every time out there. We won’t rely on him shooting 25 jumpers, but he’ll make a mediocre kid a good player.”

Brooks has a pretty midrange floater that shows up several times in his highlights; it's a shot that could become a major weapon as he encounters defenses that provide more resistance at the rim.

OFFERS

Brooks added most of his major offers in the July evaluation period, including those from Kansas State, NC State, Ohio State, Temple, and Villanova. He also held offers from American, Brown, Bucknell, Colgate, Delaware, Drexel, George Mason, High Point, La Salle, Lehigh, Monmouth, Penn, and Rice. The quality of his offers has obviously taken a leap of late.

STATS

Brooks averaged 24.7 points per game as a junior, leading Spring Grove to their first league title since 1971 while shooting 41% on three-pointers and 82% on free throws. I haven't been able to find AAU stats for Brooks, who plays for the Jersey Shore Warriors, a lower-level AAU squad without a shoe partnership that's nonetheless produced some talented players over the years:

“(Brooks is a) character kid,” said Sagona.  “He is tremendously happy with his choice.  He is ecstatic about his choice. I just think that he is a great character kid and he is a great player.  We’ve had some really good players come through our program…  Matty Carroll (Notre Dame, 10 years in the NBA), Troy Murphy (Notre Dame, 12 years in the NBA), Kyle McAlarney (Notre Dame, current Euro League player), Darrun Hilliard (Villanova and the Detroit Pistons)… he is right up there with those guys.”

VIDEO

Dylan edited some highlights from the recent evaluation period:

Sophomore Spring Grove highlights:

Interview with some highlights from last summer.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

There's not much projection necessary here: Michigan needed a point guard to join Xavier Simpson at the position following Derrick Walton's graduation, and Brooks fills that need. He's well aware of the situation he's walking into:

In that regard, Brooks said he's comfortable coming in behind Simpson because, at the end of the day, he's comfortable at Michigan.

"I think it's tough to walk in and be a starter at any level, but especially when there's a sophomore guard and you're going to be a freshman," Eli Brooks said. "But I'm not really concerned about starting. I just want to continue to get better and push the guys who are ahead of me."

Unless Simpson fails to live up to expectations, Brooks should be the primary backup at the point for three years before taking over as the starter as a senior. If he proves capable of guarding two-guards—and that should be the case, at least against smaller teams—then he should be able to play alongside Simpson in the same backcourt in certain situations.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Michigan has their point guard, which likely spells the end of their pursuit of Nojel Eastern. With two scholarship spots remaining, the focus will turn to adding a couple wings, with one of those being a prospect who can play the four in Beilein's system. Four-star OH F Kyle Young and four-star IN F Jaren Jackson both hold offers and could slot in at the four. Five-star wings Brian Bowen and Kris Wilkes are the top overall targets on the board, and three-star in-state wing Jamal Cain also holds an offer.

Comments

wahooverine

July 20th, 2016 at 2:44 PM ^

We beat defending champs Villanova and handsome Jay Wright for a local kid. Great (and much needed) recruiting win for Coach B. It seems coach can compete for high level point guards. The next prized wing still eludes him though. Hopefully Jordan Poole sprouts up to 6'5/6'6 by the time he's needed and can play some 3.

Trader Jack

July 20th, 2016 at 2:49 PM ^

Wouldn't be surprised to see Isaiah Livers drop next. He's expecting an offer in early August and I'd be surprised if he waits too long after getting it before he commits.




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ChiCityWolverine

July 20th, 2016 at 5:11 PM ^

I don't think this is the right attitude to UM hoops recruiting these days. The problem is not so much at guard. Beilein's guard recruiting: 

Uhhhh, ya think?

Trey Burke (2011) - top 100 recruit, became Trey Burke, lottery pick

Caris LeVert (2012) - mostly unheralded, late-flier recruit, became Caris LeVert, lottery pick

Nik Stauskas (2012) - top 100 recruit, became Nik Stauskas, lottery pick

Hits

Stu Douglass (2008) - diamond in the rough, steady shot and handle allowed him to play both guard spots, helped transition M into tourney team

Darius Morris (2009) - top 100 recruit, turned into fringe NBA player after a strong sophomore year at M, broke the school single season assist record (Trey Burke claimed it for himself two years later)

Tim Hardaway Jr. (2010) - top 100 recruit, key starter and All-B1G first team on Final Four team as a junior, 1st round NBA draft pick

Spike Albrecht (2012) - mostly unkown recruit was late flier from Beilein, had breakout moment in NCAA title game, otherwise provided steady hand as backup PG before back issues ended career at M

Derrick Walton (2013) - top 50 recruit, became B1G caliber PG despite some struggles with consistency and injuries

MAAR (2014) - under the radar recruit, one of the only players on last years team that could get to the rim, and solid B1G two-way combo guard

Jury's Out

Xavier Simpson (2016) - top 100 recruit, unproven incoming player, but love his potential and alpha-dog attitude. Expect him to be a B1G level PG after a one-year apprenticeship behind Walton

Misses/Busts

Matt Vogrich (2009) - surprisingly was a top 100 recruit, but was a certifiable bust mostly reserved for spot duty, had a few solid offers (ND, Stanford)

Carlton Brundidge (2011) - top 100 recruit, washed out of M and transferred to Detroit where he became a decent rotation player

 













 

 

Lanknows

July 20th, 2016 at 5:46 PM ^

I'd put MAAR in 'jury's out' and consider Vogrich a wing rather than a guard (he was never a ball-handler).  Regardless the success is overwhelming.  

Anybody doubting Beilein's ability to find and develop guards has to ignore a mountain of evidence.

IndyBlue90

July 20th, 2016 at 9:09 PM ^

I think Rahk is considered a success, because his recruiting profit was pretty thoroughly mid-major and now he looks like a guy that will be a three year B1G starter and probably garner some level of All-B1G accolades before he's done. I think it especially brings it into context to note that he was not much of a jump shooter as a recruit and now has become s serious asset from the outside in less than two seasons on the team.




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IndyBlue90

July 21st, 2016 at 11:53 AM ^

Isn't part of this exercise grading against expectations? Like wouldn't we all feel less disappointed by Chatman if he had been 2 star we snagged from App State. Also, I think everyone's states during conference play were depressed by the fact that the offense was not running coherently, and they weren't getting any kind easy shots created by defense. That said his shot has improved a lot from his freshman year and in conjunction with his driving ability provides serious value. If Rahk had transferred instead of any of the other guys it would have put a major hole in the team.




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Lanknows

July 21st, 2016 at 12:38 PM ^

M fans generally have mixed feelings on Glenn Robinson but loooove Zack Novak. Should it matter that one was a 5-star and the other a 3-star? Robinson was a FAR better player than Novak and Michigan had their 2 best seasons since the early 90s with Robinson. Same thing with Spike and Walton.  Walton's clearly a superior player (starting over Spike from Day 1) and the team fell way off when Spike started in place of Walton.  Is it reasonable to let recruiting rankings dictate how much you like a guy?

I say no, but even if you disagree it shouldn't matter when you are judging Beilein.  He's responsible for production (both in recruiting and development).

The exception would be situations that were out of Beilein's control.  When Trey considered leaving after his freshman year Beilein was left scrambling to find any PG that was serviceable very late in the cycle.

 

Lanknows

July 20th, 2016 at 11:14 PM ^

He may have exceeded expectations, but we're not grading Beilein on a curve.

We'll see what happens with Rahkman.  Right now, he's a one dimensional player that teams don't respect on the outside and who doesn't create for anyone else. He cleaned up his freshman TO issues and his 3% skyrocketed in non-conference player, but he's still a guy who needs to drive to the hole to be effective.  That's why I say "jury is out".

Personally, I think he tops out as an excellent 6th man. That's enough to count him has 'hit' for Beilein.

WindyCityBlue

July 20th, 2016 at 6:46 PM ^

A couple things:

1. I think vogrich was an amaker recruit. So that helps JB.

2. On the other hand, I wouldn't give too much credit for spike. He really didn't do much (stats-wise) beyond a handful of good games. Same for Derrick. He was a top 50 player and is playing nowhere near that level.

Other than that, JB is pretty good with guards that have abilities on the offensive side of the ball.




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WindyCityBlue

July 21st, 2016 at 4:57 AM ^

No way is he playing like a top 50 player

I don't have the time to do the in depth analysis, but I would suspect a good chunk (but not majority) of the top 50 players from his class are already on the NBA by now. Additionally, he's not even a top 50 player in the nation now, even after 3 years of development with JB (and JB is known for developing players). To put it into perspective, the best post season award he received is third team all big ten (once...last season) by the coaches (honorable mention by the media). Based on that it could be construed that he is not even a top 25 player in the big ten.




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Lanknows

July 21st, 2016 at 1:35 PM ^

http://247sports.com/Season/2013-Basketball/CompositeRecruitRankings?In…

There are far more busts than NBA guys.  Most were elite top 15 recruits (10/15 left for the NBA). There's only a couple legit NBA players (Portis, LaVine) beyond that, plus a handful that left but arguably shouldn't have (Rozier, Wood, Jackson).  They aren't necessarily better players than Walton just because they decided to leave and their college performance wasn't necessarily better either.

But fine, take 15 NBA guys.  Now find 30 more players in the same class who are better players than Walton (ranked 44th).  I bet you can find 15-20 pretty easily. The next 10-15 are going to be legitimate arguments if they are or aren't better than Walton, and you'll be relying on guys ranked outside the top 200 to replace all the busts in the top 100.

Walton was appropriately ranked. He has met expectations for a guy ranked like he was.  You talk about guys ranked 40-60 and some of them are going to be studs, some duds, but the median guy is going to be about what Walton is - a high level major conference starter that the NBA ignores and maybe plays in Europe for a while.

If you want to call somebody a dissappointment it's Donnal - he was a top 100 recruit and hasn't played anything like it..

Lanknows

July 21st, 2016 at 1:51 PM ^

If you are 3rd team all big 10 that makes you one of the 15 best players in the big ten.  But that's including 4 classes worth of guys.  If you want to go that route you have to divide by 4. 

Most of the people above Walton were seniors. 

Looking at All Big 10 teams is a weird way to judge this.  But if you insist - how many in Walton's class finished above him?  Nigel Hayes -  Anyone else? 

Troy Williams was ranked just below Walton - and it's highly debatable who the better player is.  Most of the other top 100 recruits that landed in the Big 10 were total busts.

There were 3 big ten recruits ranked above Walton:  Noah Vonleh, Zak Irvin, and Roddy Peters.  Vonlah is in the NBA, Irvin/Walton we can debate, Peters is a bust.  The only players from the class who have a strong case that they were better are Vonleh and Hayes. 

So, again, the rankings look pretty accurate.  The only way they don't is if you expect an NBA player from a recruit ranked in the 40s.  That's not the norm.

In reply to by Lanknows

WindyCityBlue

July 21st, 2016 at 2:49 PM ^

No. I'm trying an answer the question:

Can you even call him a top 50 player now regardless of class? I get that there is a larger pool to compare from, but most seem to emphasize the superior ability for JB to develop talent. With that in mind, as a senior, DW should be ahead of a lot of players younger than him. Which he is not as evidenced by his post season awards. If he was truly a top 50 player, he would:
1. Be in the NBA already
2. Performing much better than being 3rd team all big ten by his senior. Keep in mind is that DW only reviewed this once and only my the coaches.




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Lanknows

July 21st, 2016 at 5:08 PM ^

Top 50 player overall doesn't answer if he was properly rated as a recruit in his class.  If you're ranked 45th in the country, you're never SUPPOSED to be a top 50 player in the NCAA.

If you are going "regardless of class" he would just need to be a top 200 player to justify his top 50 ranking, since there are 4+ classes in the NCAA at any time.

As a senior you should be getting close to top 50, but even then there are 10-15 one-and-done guys cycling through every year who are supposed to be better, there is another 5-10 two-and-done guys cycling through, and then there's supposed to be another handful of juniors and probably something like 20 seniors who are supposed to be better than you.

Walton's already a top 200 player.  Will he be top 50 as a senior?  We'll find.  If so, it would mean he did BETTER than his ranking would indicate. 

You have unreasonable expectations. I would suggest looking back at recruits ranked 40-60 over the last 5 years or so.  Some of them will be better than Walton, most of them won't be.

 

 

Lanknows

July 20th, 2016 at 11:24 PM ^

He's overrated by most M fans but underrated by you. I think it's fair to put him in the "jury's out" category but so far he's had a good career.

Not an NBA player obviously, but he was an excellent backup for 2 years and then a key starter his 3rd year -- on mediocre team, granted.  Last year he was hurt - so we'll see what he does at Purdue.  I suspect he'll be viewed as an average big ten starter, at worst.

Given Beilein recruited him to fill a backup role with almost no notice, Spike's a significant bullet in Beilein's Guardfinder resume.

WindyCityBlue

July 21st, 2016 at 5:03 AM ^

How can he be viewed as an average big ten starter...

...when he has only started a fraction of games he has played in?

At best, I could say he is an average big ten bench player.




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Lanknows

July 21st, 2016 at 5:13 PM ^

That's what he was recruited to be -- he was a very good one.

Point #2 is that players tend to improve. That can be true if Spike starts or not.  What won't stand is my 'guess' that Spike will be looked at as an average starter.  Maybe he'll only be an excellent backup.  We'll see.  Either way it's a feather in Beilein's cap given the context (late spring panic acquisition when Trey was contemplating going pro 1 year after Morris unexpectedly went pro.

HarbaughorBust

July 20th, 2016 at 4:22 PM ^

Do you think, a life long Nova fan, one that  has stated Nova is his dream school, actually received a commitable Nova offer?  

 

This kid is unranked for a reason.  When it's all said and done, he'll end up a 3 star or maybe boarderline 4 star.  Not sure why we are going after kids like this, this early in the cycle.  Then again, JB is comfy in his job and being a bubble team is clearly the standard.

Brian Griese

July 20th, 2016 at 4:55 PM ^

'The offer came from Wright via the telephone, while Brooks ate at a McDonald's in Hanover on Sunday evening.

"He explained how he envisioned my career being at Villanova if I went there," Brooks said. "Then he said, ‘you have a full ride to Villanova.'”

 

http://www.gametimepa.com/story/high-school/york-adams/boys-basketball/…

IhateMattDsomuch

July 20th, 2016 at 5:30 PM ^

I just came back from that umhoops board and I can say that this board is better but barely. All they do is trash recruits before they even step on campus over there.I freaking frustrates me a ticks me off and then the sissy Dylan blacklist you for defending players.. Its this giybnamed Matt D who lies and says he knows the coaching staff and watches player outside of videos...no one has lateral quickness or is good enough outside of Jamal Cain. He even lied and said that he knew the coach personally but Derrick (who I played basketball at Redford with) doeant know that lier. Anyways this kid can ball and all of that "nocommital" offer from villanova is BS. I think the piatee who made that up use to be called MPbear on that umhoops farce of a site. This kid has a talent similar to the PG from Maryland. Before you judge him- see him play live.

AlwaysBlue

July 20th, 2016 at 6:07 PM ^

on Matt D...he has posted here some and claims he no longer posts at UMHoops.

It really doesn't matter what the topic is (politics, music, sports. etc.) message boards seem to be filled with experts who typically have no first hand knowledge as an evaluator or coach. They sure as hell have opinions though.

robpollard

July 20th, 2016 at 6:48 PM ^

I don't follow AAU basketball much, but like many of you, I hear how rife with bagmen, "friends", 3rd-cousins, etc all looking for a payday; all this while kids just jack up shots and don't learn the fundamentals.



I have never heard of Brooks' AAU coach, Tony Sagona, but his quote -- about knowing Belein for essentially 35 years -- made me do a quick Google



Here's the lead article:

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2013/07/24/the-jersey-shore-warr…



This guy sounds like the AAU version of Belein: a guy with ethics beyond reproach who  (for better for worse) focuses more on players right for his program rather than sheer athelticism.



Key quote: The Warriors "base their system around playing smart basketball: running an offense, spreading the floor, making the right pass."  Based on this, I'm surprised we've never gotten a player from this group before, but it sounds like a) it has a pipeline to Notre Dame and b) doesn't necessarily have multiple Top 150-200 players every year.



In any case, glad to have Eli, and just as important, I'll think he'll stick with UM. He sounds like a Coach Belein kind of player.