The last time Brother Rice’s boys basketball program played in the MHSAA state semifinals, Michael Jordan was still in college. That was 1984 — 42 years ago. On March 13, 2026, a freshman guard named Jordan McDaniel scored 31 points in a semifinal at Breslin Center and nearly pulled off one of the great upsets in recent Michigan high school basketball history. Nearly.
East Lansing’s KJ Torbert hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Trojans a 55-52 win and end the Warriors’ season. Brother Rice finished 22-6 — a program-record four-year win total under eighth-year head coach Rick Palmer — with a Final Four appearance that validated everything this program has been building toward.
Jordan McDaniel: The Freshman Who Carried Warriors to Breslin
Let’s start with the most remarkable fact of this entire season: Jordan McDaniel is a freshman. He averaged 19.3 points per game and made 39 three-pointers as a ninth-grader — numbers that would be exceptional for a senior, let alone a player who cannot drive himself to practice yet. In the state semifinal against the defending D1 champion East Lansing, he scored 31 points and tied the game at 52 with 16 seconds left.
“Jordan McDaniel is the best freshman basketball player in Michigan. What he did at Breslin Center as a ninth grader — 31 points against the defending state champion — was extraordinary.”
— THE COUNTY LINEThe comparison that keeps coming up is what McDaniel could become. With three more years of varsity basketball in front of him — surrounded by a program that got him to the Final Four as a freshman — the recruiting landscape for Brother Rice is about to look very different. Every D1 program in the country will know his name before he plays another high school game.
The Semifinal: A Buzzer-Beater Heartbreak
East Lansing had beaten Brother Rice by 21 points in December. The rematch at Breslin was a completely different game — a testament to how much the Warriors grew between December and March. McDaniel’s 31 points carried Rice to a tie at 52 with 16 seconds left, setting up what appeared to be overtime.
Then KJ Torbert caught an inbound pass, dribbled twice, and launched a three-pointer as time expired. It went in. East Lansing 55, Brother Rice 52. The Warriors’ season was over on one of the most stunning buzzer-beaters in recent state tournament history. It was the kind of ending that will hurt for a long time — and should. This team earned a better fate.
What the Future Looks Like
Grays and Smith graduate. McDaniel returns. Coach Palmer returns. The program’s best recruiting class in years is likely on its way thanks to the Final Four exposure. Brother Rice 2026-27 is not a rebuild — it is a reload around the best freshman in the state. Watch for the Warriors to be a preseason top-10 program in D1 next fall.
