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Spring Grove's Eli Brooks commits to Michigan

07/19/2016, 9:00pm EDT
By Josh Verlin

Eli Brooks (above) committed to Michigan and head coach John Beilein on Tuesday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Eli Brooks surprised many on Tuesday night, as the Spring Grove (Pa.) point guard committed to Michigan.

Michigan head coach John Beilein offered Brooks “about 10 days ago,” according to his AAU coach, Tony Sagona of the Jersey Shore Warriors, but they kept the offer quiet.

Despite calling Villanova his “dream school” earlier in the offseason, Brooks will instead become a Wolverine next fall.

"A lot of people told me when it feels right, you should take it," Brooks said. It was just a feeling, I'd kind of felt it for a while.

"I think it did surprise a lot of people, but when you're making a decision as important as this, you have to take away the feelings of a dream you had as a little kid," he continued. "Villanova's a great school and a great program, but in my heart, Michigan just felt right."

Beilein and Michigan assistant Billy Donlon tracked Brooks closely the last two weeks, watching every game of his with the Warriors at the Hoop Group's Summer Jam Fest in Manheim, Pa. this past weekend.

Brooks’ recruitment had skyrocketed of late, after a junior season where he led Spring Grove to its first-ever state tournament appearance. The 6-2 guard, who already has 1,525 points in his high school career, was named first-team PIAA Class AAAA this year after averaging 25 ppg as the Rockets went 25-4.

He picked up offers from Ohio State, Villanova and North Carolina State this week alone, adding to a list that already included Rice, Kansas State, La Salle, Penn, George Mason, Monmouth, Drexel and more.

“He kind of was just weighing out pros and cons of everybody that’s kind of (coming in) and what he really felt, and then tonight he just said ‘I feel like this is the place, I don’t need to go any further," said his father, James Brooks, who is also Spring Grove's head coach. "He made the call, made the calls to all the other coaches and let everybody know. Kudos to him for stepping up and letting everybody know his decision.”

A tremendously steady lead guard with a stellar outside shot and feel for the game, Brooks been the star player for the Warriors this AAU season, leading them to tournament victory after tournament victory; they’ve only lost two games all summer.

“I think it got around how good he was,” Sagona said. “He made a major jump just drastically, playing. He’s a phenomenal player, he really is, just makes everybody better. And he’s a wonderful kid, just a good boy, no attitude, respects everyone.”

Though the offer from Michigan only came in this month, the program had been recruiting Brooks for a while.

A trip out to visit the school over Father's Day weekend helped plant a seed in his mind that only grew and grew over the past two months, allowing the school to finally outpace the program that had been Brooks' favorite growing up.

"They just mutually started liking (each other) more and more, and (Beilein) being around and showing him that love, and how (Eli) felt when he went on the visit, how much he saw how they were really into him," James Brooks said. "I think that’s what really turned it around.”

"When I went and visited, they only had film of me, they never even saw me play live and they took the time out of their day," Eli added. "Coach Beilein gave me the whole tour, it was very personal, and I just got a good feel for the coaches."

At Michigan, Eli Brooks will join a program that has made the NCAA Tournament in five of the last six seasons under Beilein, who's compiled a 482-298 (.618) career record in 24 seasons spent at Canisius (1992-97), Richmond (1997-2002), West Virginia (2002-2007) and now Michigan.

Last year, the Wolverines went 23-13, including a 10-8 record in the Big Ten, losing to Notre Dame in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.

Brooks will be the second member of the Michigan roster to hail from Pennsylvania. Muhammad-Ali Abdur Rahkman, a former standout at Allentown Central Catholic, will be entering his junior season this fall.


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