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'Brotherly love' leading Catholic Central sophomore to Division 1 stardom

He's being recruited by U-M and MSU but without the help of his brother Jorden, sophomore Durral Brooks says there's no way he'd be the same basketball player.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — No matter who he meets, the question is always the same. 

"Everyone asks where the nickname came from," said Catholic Central head coach TJ Meerman.

And every time, "Phat Phat" tells them the story. 

"I was a fat baby," he explains. "My mom said I just downed bottles of milk like over and over again."

His real name is Durral Brooks but he almost always goes by his nickname, something even big name college coaches call him. 

"We were just with Juwan Howard on a recruiting visit and the first thing Juwan said was, 'Man, you got the best nickname in the state,'" Meerman recalls. 

The 6-2 Catholic Central point guard also has game, as he's scoring about 13 points a game. In fact, the 15-year-old is ranked as the best sophomore in Michigan. He's speedy and smooth, and boy, does he know how to put the ball in the bucket.

"I just love the game of basketball. I grew up playing with it," Phat Phat says. 

It all started at the age of three when Phat Phat started tagging along with his brother Jorden, who's three years older and now a senior on the Cougars. Since then, they've been inseparable, with Jorden always pushing his younger brother to be the best he can be. 

"I would win but it would be a lot of fights," says Jorden, looking back on some of their one-on-one battles. 

Now all these years later, both brothers are getting recruited. For Jorden, it's places like GVSU and Aquinas. For Phat Phat, it's places like Michigan and Michigan State. However, Jorden insists he's not jealous. He just wants the best for his brother and vice versa.

"That's probably the big part of being the big brother," Jorden says. "Hopefully he makes it bigger. I'm proud of him for that."

"I want to go to the league," say Phat Phat, who has hopes of taking his game to the highest level. 

They're both going places and they'll be supporting each other, every step of the way.

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