Juwan Howard, Michigan Basketball Add Two During Early Signing Period
Juwan Howard is still recovering from heart surgery as the basketball season tips off but the fruits of his recruiting labor have been realized by the signing of two prospects in the 2024 class. Christian Anderson Jr. and Durral Brooks signed their letters of intent yesterday during the early signing period for their recruiting class. The basketball program put out an official release on both players that can be read below.
University of Michigan David and Meredith Kaplan Men's Basketball Head Coach announced Wednesday (Nov. 8) the signings of four-star guards Christian Anderson Jr. and Durral Brooks to National Letters of Intent for the 2024-25 season.
Anderson, a 6-foot guard from Atlanta, Ga., will play his senior season for Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., which has produced several NBA-All-Star alumni including Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant. Prior to Oak Hill, he played three seasons at The Lovett School in Atlanta, where he had a 57-30 career record and scored 2,038 points (23.7 per game).
"We discovered Christian passing through the gym on the AAU circuit," said Howard. "Most talk about Christian's elite level perimeter shooting and his range and accuracy is second to none. However, he has shown high-level playmaking skills from the point guard position. The international experience, and success, he has gained with the German national team is unprecedented. Never backing down from a challenge, now that Christian is attending the historical Oak Hill Academy, he is practicing, and playing against, some of the nation's best."
As a junior at Lovett (2022-23), Anderson averaged 26.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game to lead the Lions to a 20-10 record. He posted three games with 40 points or more, including a season-best 46 points while shooting 16-for-21 from the field against Stockbridge (Feb. 7). All three of his 40-point games came in the month of February, when he averaged 32.2 points per game during a seven-game win streak to vault Lovett into the GHSA Class 4A State Playoffs.
During his record-setting sophomore season (2021-22), he ranked as the top scorer in his class with 29.7 points per game, and his 861 total points were the most in Georgia High School basketball history regardless of class. Anderson had 14 games of 30 points or more, with four of 40-plus and one of 50-plus -- a career-best 55 vs. Midtown (Nov. 23). He made a career-best 4.3 three-pointers per game, with 12 games of six three-pointers or more.
Anderson played summer ball for Team CP3, leading the team to a 35-1 record in 2022. He averaged a team-best 16.0 points per game and shot 60 percent from beyond the arc in the Nike EYBL Session II and was named the Top 16U player at the 2022 Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions. In 2021, he was named the CP3 Rising Stars Camp Most Valuable Player after averaging 17.5 points over five games.
Brooks, a Grand Rapids, Mich., native, is set to play all four years of high school at Grand Rapids Catholic Central. The 6-foot-2 guard led the Cougars to two MHSAA Division 2 State finals appearances -- with a State Championship win in 2021 -- and has a 61-9 career record.
"Durral is a home grown kid from the westside of Michigan. He understands the history and tradition of the program being a Michigan Man. 'Phat Phat' has really developed into that two-way player we want in our program. His ability to attack defenders off the dribble and finish in the paint at a high level. He can play on or off the ball. However, what attracted us to him was his willingness to be a team guy."
As a junior (2022-23), Brooks averaged 20.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. He earned Division 2 All-State first team honors from the Associated Press, the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, and was named one of the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan's Best of the Best, an award reserved for the state's top 14 players regardless of class or division. He also surpassed 1,000 career points with a 20-point game against Ottawa Hills on Feb. 17.
In his sophomore season (2021-22), Brooks led the Catholic Central to the MHSAA Division 2 state championship with a 25-2 record. He posted 22 points, eight assists, six rebounds and five steals in a state semifinal win over Ferndale after recording a double-double (18 points, 11 rebounds) in the state quarterfinals against Benton Harbor. He was named to the AP All-State first team as well as the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News All-State second teams.
As a freshman (2020-21), Brooks captured a Division 2 state championship while leading Catholic Central to a perfect 20-0 record. He posted a double-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in the championship game.
Brooks played AAU with The Family, a Detroit-based program that has produced several U-M stars, including (2021-23), Manny Harris (2007-10) and DeShawn Sims (2006-10). Brooks averaged 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in the 2023 Nike EYBL circuit
