Tom Izzo has had his fair share of players who were OKGs and seemed to love Michigan State, but the fit in the basketball program just wasn’t it. Pierre Brooks, for whatever reason, was one of those guys.
Brooks, like some of the ex-Spartans before him, made his way back “home” to participate in the annual Moneyball Pro-Am. According to Nathaniel Bott, he made a surprise appearance on Thursday night, just two days after Tre Holloman found his way back to Moneyball as a participant.
Holloman, too, played again and he’s now averaging 24 points over his two games but he’s made a whopping 10 threes.
Brooks, a Detroit native, has been out of college basketball for a year now, wrapping up his Butler career in 2024-25 by averaging a career-best 15.2 points for Thad Matta. He showed off a little on Thursday night with a cool 25 points.
He’s back where all the preseason hype started. Michigan State fans are all too familiar.
Pierre Brooks was everyone’s favorite Moneyball star
For a couple of years, Brooks dominated the headlines at Moneyball, putting up some gaudy numbers and scoring at will. He’s one of those cautionary Moneyball tales.
Brooks was hitting threes, driving to the rim, and playing with a ton of confidence during his Moneyball appearances, but it just never translate. Shocker, I know.
It just hurt to see him struggle once he traded his bright-colored Moneyball jersey for a green and white one every fall.
Brooks was a big Michigan State guy and he seemed to possess everything that would make him successful in East Lansing under Izzo, but it just didn’t click in his two years. The roster fit wasn’t there and he felt like he had a better chance for a bigger role in the Big East with Butler.
Much like Foster Loyer and Xavier Booker, Brooks’ departure hurt not because he was a huge part of the team and it was a shock, but more so it was sad to see a once-promising Spartan leave after a less-than-ideal career in East Lansing.
Oh, what could have been.
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