NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 21 in 2023-24 season

9. Pierre Brooks (Butler)

Out of high school, Brooks was a ranked 4-star recruit from Detroit who didn’t have to look far to find his first collegiate home. He landed at Michigan State back in 2021 but didn’t see the court a lot in his two seasons with the Spartans. Following very limited run as an underclassman, he’d enter the Transfer Portal and find a new home over at Butler. Suffice to say his junior year would feature far more productivity.

Brooks put up 14.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, far exceeding what he accomplished in two prior years in East Lansing. He became the leading scorer on a Bulldogs squad that showed promise at times, while also finishing among the Big East’s leaders in 3-pointers and shooting percentage. Brooks finally got his chance to play featured minutes and took advantage of the opportunity.

After averaging less than 3 points a game as a Spartan, Brooks would score in double figures in his first twenty-two games with the Bulldogs. During the ESPN Events Invitational he’d score 26 in a win over Penn State a few days before a 25-point outing against Boise State. Brooks would have a number of 20-point performances during Big East play and even dropped 21 points in their conference tournament loss to Xavier. This season represented a major step forward to Brooks, who’ll hope to keep building that next season.