Brooks On His Improvements, Freshmen, Leadership & More

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina senior forward Garrison Brooks met with the media via zoom Wednesday for the Tar Heels’ annual basketball media day.

Brooks is coming off an excellent season in which he was second-team All-ACC after posting terrific numbers: 16.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 53.5 percent from the field, 2-for-7 from 3-point range, 64.1 percent from the free throw line and 1.9 assists.

Over the final 18 games he played (spanning UNC’s final 19 contests), Brooks averaged 19.9 points and 10 of his 11 games scoring 20 or more points occurred during that span. Brooks also won the ACC’s Most Improved Player award.

The turning point in his season personally came in a home loss to Georgia Tech. Feeling the need to carry his team, Brooks erupted for 35 points and 11 rebounds. Up to that game, which was UNC’s 14th on the season, he was averaging just 12.3 points per outing.

The 6-foot-9, 235-pound LaFayette, AL, native scored 30 or more points twice, the career-high versus the Yellow Jackets and 30 in a home win over N.C. State. He grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 13 games and finished with 12 double-doubles. He was named second-team All-ACC, as well.

Here is video of hos full Q&A session along with some notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:

*Brooks spent the offseason almost daily working on his perimeter shooting. With Armando Bacot back and two big-time freshmen interior players (Walker Kessler and Day’Ron Sharpe) in the mix, Brooks has stepped his game away from the basket an is looking to be more of a scoring threat toward and on the perimeter. It will not only help the Tar Heels this season but him personally when he leaves UNC and looks to play professionally.

“I’ve been working hard by myself and trying to get a lot of reps up and a lot of good reps and make a ton of shots throughout the day,” he said.

What progress has he seen in shooting more away from the basket?

“Progress as how I see myself and how confident I feel in my shot, seeing a bunch go in,” Brooks replied. “The coaches and the rest of the team see that I make a lot of shots, perimeter shots in particular, and they seem to be impressed with it, so it’s good.”

*In addition to adding to his offensive repertoire, what else has been a point of emphasis since the end of last season?

“Still being a leader, still scoring the ball inside, running up and down the court – really trying to get better at that because that’s what the coaches emphasize every year and I’ve tried to get better at that every year,” Brooks said. “Also something I’ve tried to get better at this year is guarding by myself. That’s pretty much what I’ve been trying to do, just get better guarding alone and not needing help and lock down my man.”

*With the added size and talent now on the roster, does Brooks see himself mostly playing the four spot this season or can he see scenarios he might play the five some?

“My guess is I will be sticking to the four,” he replied. “Those guys are much bigger than me and I think they can play the five and they’re going to do well.”

*What is the biggest question Brooks has about the freshman class, which was rated No. 2 in the nation for 2020?

“I don’t really have any questions about them,” Brooks said. “I think they’ve pretty much answered everything I’ve had to ask about them. The biggest thing that you could question is if they’re going to do it in games, but I think that they’ll be fine in games and we’ll see November 25.”

*Roy Williams said Wednesday he leans on Brooks a lot now that he’s a senior. Their communication with each other is important as Brooks lets the coach know stuff about the team and sometimes gets messages to them that sometimes are better coming from a teammate than a coach. How does Brooks see himself as a leader on the team?

“Something that surprised me is pretty much being vocal a little bit, it's not something I like to do, talk a whole lot,” Brooks said. “I just surprised myself being more of a vocal leader this past year and trying to do it now and I think that's something that I've done that's really going well for me and the team this year."

*The Tar Heels were 14-19 last year, which is the second worst season in program history. So, what did Brooks and the Tar Heels learn from that experience?

“What didn't we learn? Throughout losing all those games, I think the thing that stood out to me the most was like, when things aren't going right, you come in and try to work even harder than the day before so you can try and really change those things,” he said. “I think that's something I had to learn myself, to come in, try and work hard every day and fix what's going on."

*The COVID effect has been well documented with respect to college football, but from Brooks’ perspective, what is it in relation to basketball?

"COVID has changed everything pretty much,” he said. “We can't be in the locker room all at the same time, we have to social distance all the time, always have to have masks. But, I think that we've done a good job of finding other stuff to do. We've been outside a terrible amount, I'm not gonna lie. I think that's the biggest adjustment, we've been outside running the whole time and I think that's ok."

*Stay with THI for more coverage from UNC's basketball media day.

*Jacob Turner contributed to this report.