GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Durral "Phat Phat" Brooks is ready to continue the pipeline from West Michigan to Ann Arbor.
Brooks committed to the University of Michigan on Sunday. The point guard from Grand Rapids Catholic Central said that he was excited to announce his decision because the atmosphere surrounding the Michigan basketball team made him feel welcomed.
"Just being around them felt like I was around my family," Brooks said. "Obviously, they have a good education, good Ross business school, and I want to go into real estate and go into business. So that was a big factor on me picking the school."
Brooks helped the Cougars win a Div. 2 state championship as a freshman in 2021. As a junior last season, he averaged 20.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. He feels like his skillset fits right in with what Juwan Howard has built at Michigan.
"I plan on going in there and just pushing the ball," said the six-foot-two guard. "Getting the ball getting up and in transition because, obviously, I'm really good at transition and controlling the break. So that and then guarding the (opponent's) best players. I feel like that'll be how I fit into the to the system."
He'll look to join some recently successful players to come from the west side of the state and choose the Wolverine basketball program.
2017 Mr. Basketball winner Isaiah Livers was a star at Kalamazoo Central before he became an All-Big Ten performer for the Wolverines. 2021 McDonald's All-American Kobe Bufkin went from Grand Rapids Christian to earning All-Big Ten honors and now to the NBA Draft.
Brooks said he and Bufkin are good friends and the two used to compete against each other.
"We grew up playing with each other from like, first grade to like, eighth grade. Right up until he ended up going to high school. So it's good that I'm going to be able to hopefully follow in his footsteps."
Bufkin also gave Brooks some advice that the guard says should help him settle into college when the time comes.
"I talked to him a lot when I went on like visits and stuff like football games. He just told me 'don't let the media get to me', told me some good things, some bad things, what to look out for."
With the 2022-2023 school year almost over, Brooks is ready to head into the summer without the weight of his recruitment barring down on him.
"I felt like I knew (where I wanted to go) for a while. There was kind of a couple other schools that started recruiting me, but I felt like there was no reason for me to kind of like lead other schools on if I kind of knew I was going to commit to Michigan. So I just felt like committing right now was the right time."
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