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UNC Basketball 2020-21 Player Preview: Garrison Brooks

By Blake Cockrum

CHAPEL HILL, NC - JANUARY 11: Garrison Brooks #15 of the North Carolina Tar Heels plays during a game against the Clemson Tigers on January 11, 2020 at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Clemson won 76-79 in overtime. (Photo by Peyton Williams/UNC/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - JANUARY 11: Garrison Brooks #15 of the North Carolina Tar Heels plays during a game against the Clemson Tigers on January 11, 2020 at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Clemson won 76-79 in overtime. (Photo by Peyton Williams/UNC/Getty Images) /
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Keeping It Heel continues its preview of the 2020-21 UNC basketball program with senior power forward Garrison Brooks. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound big man begins his final season of college eligibility as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year.

Sterling Manley | Kerwin Walton | Donovan Johnson | Creighton Lebo | Day’Ron Sharpe | Walker Kessler | R.J. Davis | Caleb Love | Armando Bacot | Leaky Black | Anthony Harris

Garrison Brooks returns to North Carolina in the fall of 2020 for his final season of college eligibility, and as the prohibitive favorite for Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-10, 240-pound power forward averaged 16.8 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game as a junior, and shot better than 53 percent from the floor. Along with more than doubling his point-per-game average from the prior season, Brooks also shot a career-high 64.1 percent from the free throw line while logging nearly 35 minutes a contest.

And although he may not have been the Tar Heels’ flashiest player — even in a miserable season in which they won just 14 games — he was most certainly their most effective. Roy Williams and the UNC coaching staff will be looking for that same kind of efficiency and leadership from Brooks this season, as he heads up a young group of Tar Heels that’s highlighted by rising sophomore Armando Bacot, and a star-studded group of freshmen.

Brooks will be fueled not only to improve his individual stock in the 2021 NBA Draft, but also to make it past the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend — something the Tar Heels haven’t done since the season prior to his arrival in 2017. With Brooks at the center of things, and a talented cast of players around him, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be able to do both.

What to expect in 2019-20?

The Tar Heels’ offense should run through Brooks and his front court mates more often than not this season, and he’s the betting favorite to lead North Carolina in scoring. With a blossoming offensive repertoire that saw Brooks score a career-high last season, it’s not unrealistic to think that the sensational big man could average 20 points per game as a senior.

He’s also got a good chance to lead the team in rebounds again, though second-year center Armando Bacot will certainly challenge him in that department. Look for Brooks’ minutes-per-game to drop this season, as he’ll have a lot more help from the UNC bench thanks to freshman bigs Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler.

Bold Prediction?

Brooks will lead the Tar Heels in points and rebounds this season, and be a unanimous selection for first team All-Conference. He’ll beat out a host of talented players for ACC Player of the Year, and lead North Carolina to its first Final Four appearance since 2017.

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Check back with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the UNC basketball program.

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