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Garrison Brooks Entering Transfer Portal

Senior will use fifth year elsewhere

Garrison Brooks will use the extra year of eligibility the NCAA is providing this year and will return to college for a fifth season.

That season won’t be at the University of North Carolina, however.

According to multiple media sources, Brooks will graduate from UNC in May and is entering the transfer portal to finish his career elsewhere.

Brooks first hinted at that possibility immediately following UNC’s loss to Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, saying in the postgame press conference that “going somewhere else” was a possibility as he pondered his future.

He has not broken the news on social media, although he told our Quierra Luck, “Thank you UNC.”

Brooks emerged as a junior, doubling his scoring average from 7.9 ppg to 16.8 and adding 8.5 rebounds a game. He was named second-team All-ACC and was voted the ACC’s Most Improved Player for 2019-20. Entering his senior year, he was voted the ACC’s preseason player of the year but struggled with an early season slump. He finished with 10.2 ppg and 6.9 rebounds, down significantly from the year before.

Brooks is expected to transfer to Mississippi State where his father George has been an assistant coach for the last 11 years. Brooks originally committed to the Bulldogs in high school before flipping to North Carolina in April of his senior year.

At the moment, none of the four big men who played in the rotation for Roy Williams’ final team is on the anticipated roster for Hubert Davis’ first team. Brooks and freshman Walker Kessler have both entered the transfer portal, although Davis mentioned that bringing Kessler back was an early priority of his. Day’Ron Sharpe and Armando Bacot have both entered the NBA Draft process. Sharpe indicated he would hire an agent and wouldn’t be returning, while Bacot left the door open for a return