Garrison Brooks Decides to Forgo NBA Draft; Stays at UNC for Senior Season

Garrison Brooks has decided to stick around UNC for one more year.

Jonathan Alexander of News and Observer dropped the scoop tonight that Garrison Brooks will be returning his senior year. 

Brooks' junior season was the expectation of Coach Williams. With an offensive that flows from point guard to big, Brooks walked into a season where he was needed every game; the option to not show up wasn't given. His number grew significantly, as a sophomore, he averaged 7.9 points and 5.6 rebounds; this year, Brooks doubled his productivity by averaging 16.8 points, 17 steals, 16 blocks, and 8.5 rebounds. 

The Lafayette, AL native, is the first Tar Heel to score 20 or more points in seven straight games since Tyler Hansbrough and led the ACC in scoring in conference games at 18.8 points per game and was second in rebounding and field goal percentage. Brooks is the third Tar Heel to earn Most Improved Player honors in the seven years the award has been given. Marcus Paige and Luke Maye also won the award. No other school has won the award more than once. Brooks was also the only Heel to miss one game this season due to a cold. 

Without Garrison Brooks, this would've been an even worse season for Carolina. Brooks provided coaches, teammates, and fans with stability that no other player could bring. During the ACC tournament, Brooks ended his junior season with this quote, 

"What I take from it is you can never quit. You're never down, you're never really out. But we dug ourselves that hole in our season, but I think we can just take a lot from it, just perseverance and just always being grateful that we're able to do what we love. I'm thankful to be able to come here, I play basketball every day under Coach Williams, and I enjoy it. So just taking advantage of stuff like that and just coming to work hard every day. I think sometimes in our season everyone didn't come as hard as they should have, come as hard to work as we should have, and as a leader I think that I have to do a better job motivating everyone to come to work every day and come with our hardhat and lunch pail to show that every day is meaningful and every day means something to us."

With Garrison staying, Carolina's front court is incredibly stacked.