The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2017 THE WOLVERINE 55 BASKETBALL RECRUITING clude Manny Harris (Detroit Red- ford, 2007), Dion Harris (Detroit Red- ford, 2003), Robert Traylor (Detroit Murray-Wright, 1995), Willie Mitchell (Detroit Pershing, 1994), Chris Web- ber (Birmingham Detroit Country Day, 1991), Michael Talley (Detroit Cooley, 1989), Terry Mills (Romulus, 1986), Glen Rice (Flint Northwestern, 1985), Antoine Joubert (Detroit South- western, 1983) and Robert Henderson (Lansing Eastern, 1982). Livers told The Wolverine it was a dream come true. "I am honored to receive such an award," he said. "I'm ready to get a state title and continue my career at Michigan." Livers helped lead the Maroon Giants to a 69-50 regional semifinal win over Holt March 13, the fourth straight Class A regional semifinal for the program, with 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Eighth- ranked Central (20-3) then beat No. 2 East Lansing (24-0) two days later behind Livers' double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. The win gave Kalamazoo Central its first regional title since the Maroon Giants won back-to-back Class A state titles in 2010 and 2011. They've won districts the past four years. Michigan junior target and East Lansing stand- out Brandon Johns scored only seven points in the loss. Central and Livers bowed out of the tournament in a 66-46 loss to Grand Rapids Christian in the Class A state quarterfinals. Livers added Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year to his list of honors days earlier, but couldn't advance his team to the semifinals. Livers scored all 11 of his points in the second half and added 10 re- bounds. SIGNEE ELI BROOKS FINISHES HIS CAREER Spring Grove (Pa.) High signee Eli Brooks led his team to the school's first two state tournament wins in program history in March. The Rockets advanced to the Pennsylva- nia Class 5A quarterfinals but lost to Archbishop Wood, 71-46, in late March — Brooks scored 16 points in his last game and finished his career with 2,426 career points, third all time in the York-Adams Conference. The Spring Grove crowd serenaded him with chants of 'Thank you, Eli!' after the game. "Just being able to say that we did these things, especially 10, 15 years from now, that we'll be remembered for all the firsts that we accomplished at Spring Grove," Brooks told the York Dispatch of what he'll remember about his career. Brooks is among 25 nominees for the Mr. Pennsylvania Basketball Award. Voting took place at the web- site pabball.com, with the competi- tion to be narrowed down to 10 nomi- nees on April 20. Brooks averaged 29.1 points, 12 re- bounds and 3.9 assists per game this year. The Rivals.com three-star pros- pect scored 28 points for the Penn- sylvania team in a 102-86 win over Maryland in an April 8 all-star game. James Brooks, father and coach of Eli, brought his son to the Big Ten Tournament games against Purdue and Wisconsin in Washington, D.C. Both father and son noticed the strong Michigan fan base, which took over the Verizon Center. "I loved that there were so many fans," the elder Brooks said. "I can't wait to see Eli out there." SEVERAL OPTIONS FOR FINAL 2017 SCHOLARSHIP Michigan has one spot remaining in the 2017 class, and five-star Mo- hamed Bamba (6-11, Rivals.com's No. 2 senior nationally) is the dream candidate to take it. He dominated the McDonald's All-American Game at Chicago's United Center in April, scoring 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, adding five rebounds, four blocks and two steals for Team East in just 21 minutes of action. By most accounts, however, Michi- gan is running third behind Texas and Kentucky. "I wanted to give Coach [John] Beilein space during March Madness because obviously they hoped they'd make it a lot further in the tourna- ment, but it's very simple," Bamba told Rivals.com before a McDonald's practice. "He's very good at illustrating how he would use me. He goes right into how he sees me in the program, how he would guard ball screens, how he would run pick-and-pops and how he would run all kinds of things. "Michigan was a school that I re- ally loved when I was in seventh and eighth grade. It wasn't a visit because I wasn't a prospect yet, but I remem- ber visiting and attending a game. I attended one of their March Mad- ness games. I think they were playing VCU. "It was one of the best experiences I've had, and I kind of [remembered] that, and I thought maybe I should reach out and sort of express interest. "It was like, 'Cool. We're not offer- ing you until you step foot on cam- pus,' which was very humbling. It was different from a lot of different places. I liked it." He's continued to develop a rap- port with Beilein, and he said his re- lationship with the head coach would be the determining factor in his re- cruitment. He's also very tight with Texas head coach Shaka Smart. Bamba is expected to decide be- tween Michigan, Texas, Kentucky and Duke in late April or early May. Former Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep point guard Shakwon Barrett, most recently having played in Can- ada at Tech Academy near Toronto, visited April 8. Barrett didn't receive an offer, but he remains one to watch. He'll visit Arkansas and Tulane before deciding. Those in Pitt transfer Cameron Johnson's camp recently informed The Wolverine that Johnson is extremely interested in U-M — and, in fact, reached out to the Wolverines. John- Livers is the first Michigan Mr. Basketball to head to Ann Arbor for college since Detroit's Manny Harris in 2007. PHOTO COURTESY NIKE/JON LOPEZ