Melvin Booker got to break a sweat on a few NBA teams but mostly played overseas in Turkey, Russia and Italy. Gutierrez allowed Booker, then 12, to visit his father one spring break in Milan, where the son played one-on-one with a future pro in Danilo Gallinari and showed the potential of being a special player. Eventually, Melvin ended his career to return home to coach his high school team and focus on his son. He convinced Gutierrez and Devin on a move to Mississippi before his sophomore year in high school so that he could be trained and prepared to play at a big-time college. “Letting Devin leave Michigan was by far the hardest decision of my life. I still have mixed feelings about it,” Gutierrez wrote. “Division I colleges were already pursuing him. Since Melvin was playing basketball overseas most of his life, the one-on-one that he got with his father was good for him.”