Juwan Howard’s most important Recruit

This past weekend the Michigan basketball program received the commitment of Grand Rapids Catholic Central standout Durral Brooks. Depending on your recruiting service of choice. Brooks is a borderline top 100 national recruit. A scouting report will come further on in this column. However for a variety of reasons that have little to do with the court. I believe Brooks is the most important recruit of the Juwan Howard era. He is clearly not the highest ranked or most decorated recruit. So why the importance? Let’s unpack a few things going on below the surface.

In this parochial and polarizing sports society we currently occupy. I feel the need to put this disclaimer out into the ether. Trust me when I say this. It is really is possible to pull off the amazing psychological feat I am going to describe. I am a fan of Michigan basketball. The italics are needed as I am referring to ALL Michigan basketball. Equal parts Spartan and Wolverine.

The genesis of my basketball fandom was the Fab Five in my childhood. I graduated in the class of 2000. The Mateen Cleaves era was a part of the soundtrack of my high school years. I believe it would be great for the state and the region if both Michigan and Michigan St were to have success.

That being said. I will acknowledge that the Juwan Howard tenure seems to be at a bit of a crossroads. I don’t think it’s entirely fair. Yes there were high expectations this year. It is also not good to lose a high profile player in the transfer portal. However it seems rash to let one NIT campaign obscure an excellent three year opening run.

Why might that be? I don’t believe it has anything to do with the institution. This is a football school that tolerated a lot of mediocrity in the Tommy Amaker years. You could argue their patience on the football side with Jim Harbaugh is beginning to pay dividends. So why the perceived restlessness in Ann Arbor?

I believe it comes down to a question of fan equity. At the risk of playing captain obvious. Tom Izzo has some serious equity. Yes the Hall of Fame resume is impressive. However let me present an inconvenient truth to Spartan fans. So was John Beilein‘s. You could argue his success matched or even exceeded Izzo during his tenure. So why didn’t Beilein seem as beloved?

At risk of angering Michigan fans with this term. I’ll put it in italics again. Tom Izzo is a Michigan man to his core. He hails from the Upper Peninsula. For the sake of brevity I’ll leave out the names. He has won with players from Flint, Saginaw, Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Lansing. That pretty much covers all the metropolitan and rural areas of the state. Even with rust belt population shifts. He has rarely strayed out of the upper Midwest to find players. As someone who covers recruiting throughout the region. Trust me that matters to people.

I’m going to try and avoid getting too deep. However if you live here you know. Michigan has been hit hard by a socioeconomic hurricane that started long before the recession. Michael Moore basically built a filmmaking career off of it. The states largest industry needed to be bailed out by the federal government. The Flint water crisis was major governmental and humanitarian failure that did not receive enough attention. It’s been a rough 21st century.

In this wake the state has begun to foster a unique and specific culture. “Detroit versus everyone” and “what up doe” are not new to the vernacular. However they seemed to have gained an increased resonance of late. They ring just as true as the rural rallying cry of “UP Power.” People from the “mitten” are proud of it.

In the midst of this. Neither John Beilein or Juwan Howard recruited the state of heavily. While Beilein did find success with players like Derrick Walton Jr. He primarily won with players from Northern Indiana, international prospects, or dare I say it— Columbus! In Juwan Howard’s short tenure he has only really had Kobe Bufkin (Isaiah Livers and Austin Davis were Beilein holdovers) The merits or reasoning behind this strategy are not the point. Both coaches have won a lot of games. However I think a bit of fan dissonance can be attributed to that.

You also can’t ignore the elephant in the room. In recruiting circles there was excitement regarding the arrival of the entire Howard family. Jace and Jett Howard possibly playing in the Ann Arbor region was exiting enough. To play at the same time as a supposed generational prospect like Emoni Bates was added fuel. To think they might play in Michigan high schools wasn’t an outlandish thought. The state even had recent history in similar situations with Ray McCallum Jr (Detroit-Mercy) and Trey Zeigler (Central Michigan)

We know how the story ends in those regards. I also don’t think you can blame anyone involved. Would I want to leave the Miami area where I grew up? To come play in a MHSAA limited schedule. While I have an IMG Academy opportunity waiting for me? Does Michigan look bad in retrospect for staying out of the Emoni saga?

The answer to those question is an unequivocal no. However it is still not a great look. I am of the belief that these minor snubs taken together caused small flesh wounds in the Michigan fan base. You don’t feel small flesh wounds when you are winning. But when the winning stops it begins to sting. When an out of stare recruit leaves in the portal. It hits a little different. You get comments like “Hunter Dickinson is just chasing money.” Or the dreaded “he didn’t get what it means to be from Michigan.” Once again these small decisions compound over time and lead to potential serious fissures among the fan base.

However a funny thing has happened in the last few years. If and I know this is a big if. If Jaden Akins does not return to the Spartans. There will not be a single rotation piece at Michigan St with deep Michigan ties next season (Carson Cooper played most of his career at previously mentioned IMG Academy) There is suddenly an opening on the “win with Michigan kids block” of real estate.

Enter Durral Brooks. I promised a scouting report. Let’s put it like this. If you were to create a Tom Izzo guard in a lab. He would look like Brooks. He simply exudes toughness. How tough— he is known simply as “Phat Phat.” He is all about ball and winning. At 6-2 he is probably a point guard at the next level. However if you have seen him play. You know he basically defies position. He is just a straight up stone cold basketball player. Jumps center for his team and will play whatever position is necessary to get the win.

Was dealt a bizarre COVID shortened six week season as a freshmen. Shrugged off that challenge and earned a state championship. With the target now firmly on his back. Went right back to the state final game the next season. Falling in overtime. Didn’t have a deep run as junior. That has not dinged his winning reputation.

Has the toughness of Mateen Cleaves. The tenacity of fellow west sider Drew Nietzel. The thick physical frame of Cassius Wiston. And he is going to— Michigan. As a thought exercise. Let’s just say Michigan were to bounce back behind Brooks at the point. They were then to add Detroit Cass Tech guard Darius Acuff at the two. Then possibly Trey McKenney originally from Flint at the three. It’s not a far fetched proposition. They are all currently playing together with The Family on the EYBL. If that were to happen. Michigan would win and would win big. I think that highly of those three players.

These all extremely big hypotheticals. However if they were to happen. The tenor of the Michigan/Michigan St rivalry would begin change. What Tom Izzo has accomplished should be lauded and will never be threatened. While the Beilein era was outstanding he never really tried to encroach on Izzo’s territory. Didn’t recruit against him. Didn’t try to out tough them. Beilein knew who he was and was true to it. That was part of the secret to his success.

For Michigan to win with toughness and Michigan bred grit. Things will need to change. That drastic of a change often starts with one singular culture changing recruit. Do you know who is personally aware of the importance of that key recruit? I think you know the answer. Chris Webber was most talented player among the Fab Five. Jalen Rose the most charismatic. But who was the backbone of the group? Who was the first among the five to commit and then help bring everyone together? A certain Juwan Antonio Howard.

Can Phat Phat be Juwan Howard’s— Juwan Howard? That is a lot of pressure to put on a kid. In my limited interactions with Brooks. I doubt he would mind that challenge at all. If anyone can pull it off. It is this type of player. If Juwan Howard can flip the script on his tenure. It’s not going to come from an out of state player. It going to come from the hard earned well worn streets of Michigan. It will be fun to see if Brooks is up for that daunting challenge.