Michigan State Basketball: Pierre Brooks shows growth with Moneyball MVP

Pierre Brooks looks poised to take that next step with Michigan State basketball after winning the Moneyball Pro-Am MVP award.

Let me preface this write-up by stating that, yes, I know that Moneyball isn’t the best measure of a player’s growth because there have been Michigan State basketball players in the past (Tum Tum Nairn) who have broken out here and it didn’t translate to the actual season.

Pierre Brooks, however, may have had one of the most impressive Moneyball Pro-Am performances over the course of the event’s history.

In fact, he won the Moneyball Pro-Am MVP award after averaging 40.3 points per game.

This may not sound that impressive given the fact that it’s just Moneyball, but I like to refer to a Thomas Kelley quote on the SD4L Show about Jaxon Kohler scoring 40 points at the event: “40 points is 40 points.”

While, yes, it’s just Moneyball and most of the time defenses aren’t stingy, it still takes skill and plenty of effort and confidence to score 40 points. Like Kelley said, 40 points is 40 points.

This is a big step in the right direction for Brooks who played minimally as a true freshman in 2021-22. He played in 25 games and averaged under four minutes per game, equating to 0.9 points and 0.5 rebounds while shooting 30 percent from the floor and 18 percent from deep.

Michigan’s 2021 Mr. Basketball looks to have taken that step in the right direction and having confidence to play big minutes on the wing is going to pay dividends for Tom Izzo and the Spartans in 2022-23.

Michigan State looks to have found yet another gem this summer.