Recruiting Report: Keion Brooks Jr. (2019)
In one of the more fun games of the season to this point, Fort Wayne North took down Lawrence North 96-82 at the Forum Credit Union Tip-Off Classic. While that already jumps off the page, the thing that really stood…
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Continue ReadingIn one of the more fun games of the season to this point, Fort Wayne North took down Lawrence North 96-82 at the Forum Credit Union Tip-Off Classic. While that already jumps off the page, the thing that really stood out was just how much better 2019 wing Keion Brooks has gotten since a year ago.
The 6’7 forward has really improved in just about every area of his game and you can see that when you look at just how well he played against Lawrence North. That team isn’t a slouch and he scored 33 points on 12/18 shooting. Now, Fort Wayne North stands as one of the top teams in the state led by one of the best players in the state.
“We really wanted to come down here and make a statement,” Brooks said of their defeat of Lawrence North. “We felt like we were slighted. Coming out and getting a big win was good for us. We wanted to come down and show people that our team is for real. We don’t get a lot of pub so we had to come down from Fort Wayne to show them what we could do.”
What they can do is dominate. They won’t be able to do that every night but night’s like this one were special and they played, as a team, a near perfect game. Lawrence North made some mistakes but Fort Wayne North was stellar. And, at the head of the team is Brooks.
“Just make sure everybody has confidence and the open guy takes the shot, really,” Brooks said of his teams play to this point. “Not looking for one person, just going out here and having fun and playing together.”
Part of the development of Keion Brooks Jr. has been his athleticism and strength. He’s still a pretty thin framed wing but has added muscle since last year and he’s a lot more athletic, at least his ability to use his athleticism has grown. Those two areas have just made all the skill he has explode and now he’s becoming one of the best players in the Midwest.
“I’m a lot stronger than I was last year so I’m able to bang and be more physical down there on the block. And off the dribble, I worked on that so I can expand my game.”
Since the summer, Keion has really started to gain interest and outside of just the local area. Kansas, Butler, Michigan State, Indiana, Kansas State, Iowa, Purdue, and Xavier are the schools at the front of his recruitment right now. He currently has offers from Purdue, Xavier, and Kansas State. The school that is making the biggest impact so far is Michigan State.
“Just yesterday I talked to Coach Dan Fife from Michigan State,” Brooks said. “A couple weeks before that I talked to Tom Izzo on the phone. They have been calling. I like Michigan State. They were the first to start recruiting me out of 7th grade. They have been showing me love so I’m just trying to get better so they can offer me.”
Brooks was up in East Lansing for Midnight Madness. The other program that Keion has been on campus recently for was Butler. He was able to take a day long visit where he said he “got to see all of the campus, watch practice, and the game.”