Carlton Brundidge has a new home -- and it is one he is very comfortable with.
The former Michigan guard decided to transfer to the University of Detroit, where he will be eligible for the 2013-14 season and have three years left to play.
Part of the reason for his decision is the familiarity he had with the coaching staff and the Titans’ best player, point guard Ray McCallum Jr.
“As soon as I got out of school, little Ray started calling me,” Brundidge said late Thursday night. “He’s been on me about it and I said I’d give them a look and I just loved it. Me and my dad and my mom and my godfather all said it was a good fit.”
In addition to the McCallums, Brundidge has known Detroit assistant Carlos Briggs since he was in seventh grade. So the combination of knowing he would be playing for a staff he trusts, combined with the familiarity with the school and coaches, made it an easy fit.
Plus, Brundidge said, Detroit’s style of play fits what he has been looking for. That is something the elder McCallum stressed to him.
“Basically do what I did in high school; that’s what he told me,” Brundidge said. “Playing myself, doing what I want to do. I’m 6-2 but I play like I’m 6-6. That’s what he said he loved about me, that I’m fearless. Playing the one and the two.”
The No. 75 player in the Class of 2011, Brundidge averaged 0.4 points and 0.5 rebounds in 2.9 minutes a game last season off the bench for Michigan.
Brundidge said Valparaiso, Oakland, Central Michigan and Bowling Green also expressed interest, but he felt happiest at the school that ended up being close to his Southfield, Mich., home.
“I’m happier, actually,” Brundidge said. “Really happy. It is a relief also. I finally picked a school. I’m also really happy that I’m going to a school that is one that would work for me.”
Brundidge joins Evan Smotrycz, who transferred to Maryland, and Colton Christian, who transferred to Florida International, as players who found new homes after leaving Michigan following the 2011-12 season.
