UNC Basketball 2019-20 Player Review: Brandon Robinson

Our UNC Basketball player review series continues with senior Brandon Robinson, a bright spot in his final year with the Tar Heels.

Justin Pierce | Jeremiah Francis | Anthony Harris | Brandon Huffman | Andrew Platek | Christian Keeling | Leaky Black | Armando Bacot | Cole Anthony | Walker Miller

Brandon Robinson has seen some ups and some downs during his four years at North Carolina, going to a Final Four, winning a National Championship, a second-round exit and then a disappointing final year.

He’s pretty much seen it all and despite a disappointing final campaign, Robinson is still leaving a champion.

The forward was a part of North Carolina’s 2016 recruiting class that also featured five-star center Tony Bradley Jr. and four-star point guard Seventh Woods. Robinson was a four-star guard and committed to the Tar Heels in June of 2016. He’s the only player from that class to stay all four years as Bradley Jr. bolted to the NBA after one year and Woods transferred out after the 2018-19 season.

While he didn’t get much playing time in his freshman or sophomore seasons, Robinson took a big step from his junior to his senior season. The 2019-20 season was the only season where he was a regular starter, stepping up into a much bigger role for the Tar Heels.

The Georgia native averaged 11.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 41.3 percent from the field in his senior season. He also found his touch from the three-point line, shooting 37 percent from there which was tops on the team for the Tar Heels.

In a minutes increase of averaging 30.6 per game, Robinson delivered. He was hampered by a foot injury that cost him a few games as soon as Cole Anthony returned. UNC never got their rotation fully healthy, something that plagued them throughout the year. Early on we saw what a healthy roster could do, including Robinson, but that rarely happened for the Tar Heels which is a shame.

Robinson didn’t see much playing time in his first three seasons averaging 7.6 minutes his freshman year, 8.6 his sophomore year and then 11.8 in his junior year,  so there really wasn’t much of a chance to flash that potential.

But we saw that in his senior season.

Robinson had a career-high 29 points in the 94-71 win over Miami in the Dean Dome back in January,  shooting 11 for 16 from the field and 6 of 10 from the three-point line. That was two games after he set a career-high 27 in an overtime loss to Clemson at home.

While the season didn’t end how Robinson had hoped for in his final year with the Tar Heels, the senior still gave us plenty of memories. He gave it his all and saw both the ups and the downs in his time here.

And for that, all we can do is thank him and appreciate the four years that were.

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