MILES FROM HOME
Dedication, heart helped lead Spartans star Bridges from Flint to cusp of NBA
T HE NBA mock drafts look like they did last spring — overpopulated with teenagers, who dutifully served one season in college. The 10 freshmen — and 18-year-old Frank Ntilikina — selected with last year’s top 11 picks couldn’t wait to enter the league. They couldn’t wait to become millionaires.
And Miles Bri dges couldn’t wait to get back to campus.
“The reason coach [Tom] Izzo says he’s weird is because he’s never seen anyone like that, a player of his caliber, turning down the NBA to come back to college when he was gonna be a top-10 pick,” Michigan State teammate Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn said. “That is kind of weird. It’s not typical of what a basketball superstar is supposed to be.
“He’s a different kind of superstar.”
The residents of Flint, Mich., believed the town had hit bottom long before its drinking water turned brown.
General Motors was in the midst of gutting the community it built — closing factories, and killing jobs, where the company was founded. Once-sought housing was boarded up. Once-safe streets were threatening. Bridges was 2 years old, surprisingly shooting southpaw on the toddler-sized hoop — purchased by his father Raymond, who’d won backto-back state titles at Flint Northern High School. Bridges was his mother’s baby, and always would be — 19 years younger than Cynthia’s oldest child, and nine years younger than her youngest daughter.
Bridges’ young Sundays were spent on a bus with his since-divorced parents, providing rides to church for low-income families. Most other hours were spent playing basketball, with his mother believing it to be a brilliant outlet for his Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
“Getting into sports really helped him,” Cynthia said. “It kept him busy, and he had all that energy to put into playing basketball.”
Bridges began playing under his longtime AAU coach Jeff Grayer in the third grade, and first impressed the former NBA guard as a fifth grader, used as an emergency fill-in against seventh graders.
But Bridges believed he would eventually go unnoticed by recruiters in Flint — where a once-proud basketball heritage had been decimated, alongside the decaying city and schools. Even if he became a star, Cynthia worried he would become a “statistic,” living in a city consistently ranked among the country’s most dangerous and attending parties broken up by bullets.
“The community wrapped its arms around the kids when I grew up,” Grayer said. “That no longer existed.”
Bridges was a well-known “Momma’s boy” and routinely got homesick while traveling for AAU games, but he wanted to be in West Virginia. After hearing about Huntington Prep from workout partner Javontae Hawkins, Bridges left for the famed basketball, following his freshman year at Flint’s Southwestern Academy.
“I supported him,” childhood friend Jaire Grayer said. “I knew it was probably best for him to get out of Flint.”
Bridges initially stayed with coach Rob Fulford, raising his struggling grades. Over the next two years, he lived with a Caucasian host family — “He had to get used to that,” Cyn-
thia said — where he became a third child to Susan and Neil Bouchillon.
While becoming a nationally ranked five-star forward, Bridges organized a water collection for his hometown, interned for a judge, and began fishing and whitewater rafting.
“It really broadened his horizons, and he matured so much while he was gone,” Cynthia said. “He learned how to wash his clothes, even though he was shrinking them because he was using hot water.
“It was hard for me, but I was happy he was there and not in Flint. There are still teens getting murdered, and I was glad Miles wasn’t here. The guys he was around, I didn’t like them, and what are they doing today? Nothing.”
The plan changed. Bridges returned to Flint — the city whose skyline is tattooed on his back — and sat in the Mott Community College gym; his mother to his left, his sister, Tara, to his right. He reached under a table and pulled out a green hat. John Calipari would have to find a different McDonald’s All-American. “The pl a n was Kentucky. When we went to Michigan State, I thought we were j ust going there to go, because we knew he was going to Kentucky, but that weekend with them was so nice,” Cynthia said. “Coach [Izzo] told me, I know your concern is Miles being so close to Flint, and that was a concern, only 45 minutes away. He could come back and we wouldn’t know anything, and he said, ‘We will make sure he will not be traveling back and forth to Flint.’ And he held to his word.” Bridges fulfilled his promise — a 6-foot-7 force, who unofficially competed as the sport’s most athletic player, flourishing with the ideal skill-set of a modern day NBA forward. He finished at the rim like a future slam dunk champion. He converted 37.5 per- cent of his 3-pointers over two seasons. As the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, he averaged 16.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks and acted like he never took off his warmups.
“I’ve never seen a guy with his stature be as humble and have it come so easy,” Michigan State associate head coach Dwayne Stephens said. “Some guys have that humbleness about them, but it’s a chore. They have to work at it. For him, it’s just who he is. He treats people the right way. He’s polite. He never changes.”
Izzo lovingly refers to Bridges as a “weirdo,” a “throwback” and “bluecollar star.” Quirks are common for the “SpongeBob SquarePants” fanatic.
“Ever since we were little, he’s been a real goofy kid,” Jaire said. “He does whatever comes to head, anything silly. He’s the type of guy that will pick your nose.”
Bridges was different. Still, Cynthia didn’t see a sophomore season coming.
“He said, ‘ Mom, I hope my decision will not affect our relationship,’ and I said, ‘ What do you mean? I know you’re going,’” Cynthia said. “He was like, ‘I think I want to stay.’ I’m like, ‘ Are you kidding me?’… I thought he was losing out, and it did surprise me because that’s all I knew, one-and-done. Coach Cal said he was one-and-done. Coach Izzo said he wouldn’t hold him back.
“I told someone, I don’t know what’s taking him so long to think about it because I would go.”
Izzo also tried to persuade him to leave, unmoved by Bridges’ desire to win a national championship and have his jersey hung from the rafters. The coach was finally won over when Bridges discussed getting better, so that he wouldn’t end up like friends, who were toiling in the G-League.
Still, risk outweighed reward. Bridges’ draft stock couldn’t improve much. The same money wouldn’t be guaranteed, giv- en the potential for injury and potential to underwhelm with higher expectations.
Cynthia pointed out the life-changing contract her son was passing up.
He replied: “Money’s the root of all evil.”
Cynthia loudly groaned before the question could be completed, as if a reflex hammer had tapped her lips. Her enthusiastically polite tone was briefly substituted with uncertainty, annoyance and, ultimately, relief.
It didn’t take much, just the utterance of three letters — F-B-I.
In late February, Bridges was weeks from leading second-ranked Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament when a report was released linking the star, and his family, to the sport’s FBI probe, and alleging that he and his family had received impermissible benefits from Christian Dawkins, an associate of former NBA agent Andy Miller.
In an expense report, Dawkins — who was arrested in September — listed a $70.05 meal with Cynthia and claimed to give her a $400 cash advance.
“Aargh, I was a nervous wreck. I felt like, ‘ Oh my gosh, I just destroyed his career by meeting with this man when he was in high school,’ ” Cynthia said. “That’s a horrible feeling. I felt like the lowest mom.
“It was a so-called friend who said I just want you to meet with this guy and he will explain how everything works. We did have dinner. He was telling me when Miles goes pro, I’ll get him a shoe deal, we’ll get this and that. ... That agent, he was dirty. I didn’t take any money. And then he had on there that Miles was going to meet with him at a certain time, and none of that was true.”
Michigan State conducted an internal review and presented its findings to the NCAA. Four days later, the compliance office announced it discovered the dinner took place without Bridges’ knowledge. Bridges made a $40 charity donation to resolve the minor NCAA violation and was back on the court to help the Spartans secure their first outright Big Ten title in nine years.
“When that stuff came out, he just kind of laughed about it and said there was no way,” Stephens said. “It’s not in his character. We’re talking about a couple hundred bucks. I think if you polled around the country, Miles Bridges would’ve been maybe the last person that people would say did that.
“His dad and his mom wanted to get him a car his sophomore year, and Miles was like, ‘What do I need a car for?’”
Bridges was taken aback. Whatever the visiting high school student anticipated upon walking into the East Lansing gym, it didn’t include gospel music blasting from the speakers.
It was strange and inviting, and he needed to know who was responsible. It was Nairn.
It wasn’t long before the pair joined with teammate Josh Langford to form a bible study group in their apartment. Four people came to the first meeting. Eventually, 57 people showed up.
When the room would empty, the three players continued conversations that never wanted to rest.
“One night, we were talking until like 3 in the morning, and Miles just started crying,” Nairn said. “I asked why he was crying, and he said, ‘Before I came to college, I prayed that I would find real brothers,’ and he was so happy he found them.’
“The best thing about Miles is his heart. He’s just a really good human being. I’ve never seen him turn down a picture. I’ve never seen him turn down an autograph for someone. He embraces everyone he meets. It’s not normal for a kid who is always in the spotlight.”
“THE REASON COACH [TOM] IZZO SAYS HE’S WEIRD IS BECAUSE HE’S NEVER SEEN ANYONE LIKE THAT, A PLAYER OF HIS CALIBER, TURNING DOWN THE NBA TO COME BACK TO COLLEGE WHEN HE WAS GONNA BE A TOP-10 PICK.’’ — “TUM TUM” NAIRN, ON MICHIGAN STATE TEAMMATE AND POTENTIAL KNICKS DRAFT PICK MILES BRIDGES