EAST LANSING — Two years ago, Gabe Brown and Brandon Johns were Michigan high school basketball players linked by a goal to play in their home state.
They built a friendship on the AAU court and on the recruiting trail, or the places that harbor such dreams. Johns was a Mr. Basketball finalist at East Lansing and Brown an all-state honoree at Belleville an hour away, two four-star recruits who discussed their hopes up until they both had offers to play for Michigan State.
Sometimes in the state of Michigan, sports dreams collide. They start by running together and then they run apart.