The Michigan Wolverines’ basketball team possesses two fifth-year seniors and three seniors among its scholarship players, with guard Eli Brooks fitting the bill on the latter. Brooks is one of the most experienced players on the entire team, leading the club with 33.3 minutes per game through the first three contests.
His 32 minutes per outing checked in second on last year’s squad, though some thought his game action could decrease slightly in 2020-21 due to the arrivals of two transfer guards in fifth-year senior Mike Smith and senior Chaundee Brown.
Brooks and Smith, in particular, have jelled nicely together in Michigan’s backcourt though, oftentimes appearing on the floor at the same time.
“It’s gone well,” Brooks exclaimed. “Mike can really shoot the ball and is very fast. We complement each other well; he hasn’t shot the three as much as I thought he was going to, but he can really stroke it.
“He just finds people out there, like we’ve seen him do in these first three games. It has been going well with us so far — he’s a great guy and a great player, and tries to get everyone involved.
“In the summer, we used to have time bonding together but didn’t have that this year, so we had to make do with what we had. Those bonds have allowed us to trust each other more on the floor.”
Smith has been one of the most valuable assets on the entire team so far, averaging 9.3 points and a team-high five assists per game. Reports out of practice prior to the year were that Smith assimilated perfectly into the Michigan culture and became a leader right off the bat, after transferring in from Columbia this offseason.
He joined a list of veteran leaders head coach Juwan Howard already possessed on his roster, including senior forward Isaiah Livers and fifth-year senior forward Austin Davis.
“[Sophomore guard] Franz [Wagner] has actually done a good job as well by speaking up when he sees different actions,” Brooks revealed, when asked about players helping each other out and holding one another accountable.
“Austin does a good job with the bigs, teaching [freshman center] Hunter [Dickinson] all the things he has to be aware of. I chime in as well, because I see different actions. The coaches want us to be a player-driven team — any time we see something, it’s up to us to speak up.”
Head coach John Beilein instilled a culture of accountability (something the football program could take a few tips from) during his 12 years on the job (2007-19), and Howard has continued that tradition.
Howard obviously knows what it means to wear the block M from when he played here in the early ‘90s, but having several players Beilein recruited for a second straight year (Livers, Davis, Brooks, etc.) has undoubtedly helped ease the transition.
“We have set core values for offense and defense in regards to how we want to play,” Brooks explained. “It won’t always be the same year to year, with different pieces making those words mean different things; the core values will always be the same though.
“You have to do those in practice before you do them in games. We’re trying to get better on defense and offense in practice, so that it translates to games and comes naturally for us.”
Notes
• Brooks hasn’t necessarily been a superstar or offensive ‘go-to guy’ in games during his time at Michigan, but has nevertheless consistently been a valuable part of the team, despite seldom stuffing the box score.
“I think about taking good shots and my shot selection being good, along with being aggressive,” he explained, when asked how he would define whether or not he had a good game.
“On defense, it’s about doing assignments right and talking. If you do the little things right, you had a good game; you don’t have to be a superstar every time. I’m not sure exactly what my role is, because it changes from game to game.
“Roles aren’t necessarily set — we play basketball, because we’re basketball players. The coaches put us in positions to succeed. Coach preaches about two-way players, so everybody has to buy in.”
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook
