Ex-Duke Basketball Forward Has Opportunity to End UNC's Season

The Tar Heels are now preparing for a March Madness bout versus Ole Miss and its former Duke basketball player, Jaemyn Brakefield.

Duke basketball forward Jaemyn Brakefield versus UNC | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

UNC basketball recorded a 95-68 blowout over fellow No. 11 seed San Diego State in Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday night. The Tar Heels' NCAA Tournament First Four victory sets the stage for a South Regional Round of 64 clash against No. 6 seed Ole Miss, including former Duke basketball forward Jaemyn Brakefield, in Milwaukee at 4:05 p.m. ET Friday (TNT).

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So, the 24-year-old Brakefield, who spent one season in the Duke basketball program before transferring to Ole Miss in 2021, will square off against UNC for the first time since he and the 2020-21 Blue Devils were swept at the hands of their archrival.

Jaemyn Brakefield, a former top-tier four-star in the 2020 cycle, hasn't tallied double-digit points in a contest since delivering 19 and the game-winner to power the Rebels' upset over Tennessee on his March 5 Senior Night.

But for the season, the fifth-year collegian is averaging 10.8 points while shooting better than 50 percent from the field. A beloved member of the Ole Miss basketball program now gearing up for his first NCAA Tournament appearance, Brakefield is also posting 4.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists in his 22.9 minutes per game off the bench.

As a freshman reserve in Durham under Mike Krzyzewski's command, Brakefield averaged 3.5 points and 2.5 boards in 12.5 minutes per outing for this century's only batch of Blue Devils to come up short of an NCAA Tournament invite. He totaled only two points across his 15 minutes in the squad's two losses to UNC.

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