UNC Basketball: Garrison Brooks’ improvement bodes well for 2020-21

Garrison Brooks’ improved play in 2019-20 bodes well for the UNC Basketball program going into next season in Chapel Hill

No one saw this ending coming for the 2019-20 college basketball season and it was certainly one to forget for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Even if there was a 2020 NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels weren’t going to make it after finishing the year 14-19 overall and 6-14 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Their year ended with a blowout loss to Syracuse in the ACC Tournament as UNC looked like they were just ready for this season to end.

But if there was a one big bright spot to takeaway from this team, it was the improvement of junior forward Garrison Brooks.

The forward was arguably North Carolina’s most consistent player from start to finish this past season and you could see the growth in his game as time went on. Brooks was awarded the ACC’s Most Improved Player Award at the conclusion of the season, rewarding him for his hard work.

As a junior, Brooks averaged 16.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while shooting 53.5 percent from the field. He lead the conference in scoring with 18.8 points per game and was second in rebounding with 8.9 and field goal percentage at 53.5 percent.

In his 31 games, Brooks notched 12 double-doubles which was by far the most on the Tar Heels this year.

This emergence came as a little bit of a surprise for the Tar Heels.

Brooks entered the season coming off a 2018-19 campaign in which he averaged just 7.9 points and 5.6 rebounds. But he was playing on a very talented Tar Heels roster that reached the Sweet 16 and had playmakers all over the roster.

For Brooks to take this big of a step forward just shows all the hard work he put in during this past offseason. It’s also a good sign moving forward for the Tar Heels.

UNC will enter next season with some question marks but Brooks won’t be one of them. Instead, the senior will be a leader on a team that will be very young despite returning four starters including Brooks.

Having Brooks back will be huge for UNC next season especially when they bring in a very talented recruiting class that is ranked No. 3 overall including three five-star recruits. Two of those five-star recruits are post players Walker Kessler and Day’Ron Sharpe who will certainly compete for a starting post spot alongside Brooks. While Brooks has one locked down, his teammate this year in Bacot will be battling for his starting spot.

There is still the option for Brooks to bolt to the NBA but as we write this, it’s very unlikely that he doesn’t return. We fully expect Brooks to at least get an evaluation, pending the whole Coronavirus with scheduling but he’d be a fool not to at least get that evaluation.

Sure, it was a very disappointing season in Chapel Hill but Brooks’ emergence is just one of the reasons why UNC fans should be excited for the future of this program beginning next season.

For more on the UNC Basketball program, please check back with Keeping It Heel.