City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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Eli Brooks’ recruitment reached new heights Sunday, after an impressive weekend at Hoop Group Summer Jam Fest in Spooky Nook, Pa.

After assistant coaches Kyle Neptune and Mike Nardi* followed him for his last two weekends with Jersey Shore Warriors, Villanova decided to offer Brooks, a hot shooting point guard from Spring Grove (Pa.) who is poised to enter his senior year with almost 20 Division I offers, including NC State, who offered earlier in the week.

“This is kind of just another building block on what he’s done, with a little bit of hard work he’s improved so much, even since the beginning of the summer he’s been putting it together and starting to play at a really high level,” said his father and head coach at Spring Grove, James Brooks

Eli, who is as composed as any high-major point guard should be, translated that attribute to his reaction in receiving the ‘Nova offer, according to his father.

“We weren’t together, so he texted me and said ‘hey, I got offered by Villanova,’ just like it was commonplace,” said James. “He is Mr. Composure, just kind of goes with it and I think that’s part of the reason he’s good, he doesn’t get too exciting or overwhelmed about anything, even though it’s pretty special to him.”

That lack of emotion, from Eli's perspective, may have come from the fact that he hadn't fully been able to process the surprising news. 

"It was pretty crazy, it happened so quick that there wasn't really much time to react," said Eli. "So I'd say I was just in awe that it all happened."

Having visited the campus earlier this summer with his dad, Eli mentioned he loved the campus and the coaching staff. His parents had been pushing him to visit 'Nova for a while, but it wasn't until the coaches invited him to take an unofficial visit that he decided to make the brief trip east. 

An offer from Villanova was something Eli had always dreamed of achieving, being a fan of the Wildcats as a child. That dream becoming a reality is certainly cause for excitement, but his on-court composure translated into his reaction to receiving the offer from head coach Jay Wright.

“Eli has always liked Villanova,” James said. “As a young person, Villanova was always his team, and he always thought (playing for Villanova) was kind of an unattainable thing that would be really cool if it ever happened, but now that it’s happened, it’s one of those feelings that doesn’t happen all the time, when you have a life-long goal and you finally hit it. Now that he has the offer, knowing they want you, and you’re at that level, it’s pretty special."

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*(Ed. Note: Villanova head coach Jay Wright is with the USA Select team, allowing Nardi to be out on the road recruiting)