North Carolina senior forward Garrison Brooks is out of the starting lineup and is not expected to play in Wednesday night’s ACC Tournament second round game vs. No. 11 seed Notre Dame. Before the game, Brooks was dressed out but was not going through warmups.
Brooks landed on an opponent’s foot while hitting a jumper and hurt his ankle in the early minutes of last Saturday’s win over Duke. He returned to the court in that game, posting 14 points (including two three-pointers) and 5 rebounds in 25 minutes on Senior Night, but has not practiced since.
This is the second game Brooks has missed in 132 career games at UNC.
During the 2020-21 regular season, Brooks averaged 10.6 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting 47.9 percent from the field. The Alabama native has made 22 starts and played in all 25 of UNC’s games.
“I just saw the confidence in him and him playing freely and knowing what he can do and what he’s capable of,” Caleb Love said following the win over Duke. “I’ve seen Garrison knock many threes down in practice and I’ve seen him knock a couple down in the game, and then I’ve seen him knock some down last year. So just him having that confidence in himself and shooting it with confidence and he hit them.”
With Brooks out of the lineup, freshman center Day’Ron Sharpe is getting the start for UNC. Sharpe is Carolina’s sixth man and has made three starts and played in all 25 games,
A freshman from Greenville, N.C., Sharpe averaged 9.7 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 51.3 percent from the field. The UNC big man made three starts and played in all 25 games, averaging 19.2 minutes per game. Sharpe added a team-high 22 total blocks. He is ranked No. 1 in the nation in offensive rebound percentage by kenpom.com.
North Carolina freshman Walker Kessler will also see more time with Brooks out. Kessler is averaging 4.1 points per game and has averaged 8.0 minutes per contest. Kessler’s scoring and production increased late in ACC play. He scored 9, 10, 10, 10, and 20 points in consecutive games.
The No. 6 seed Tar Heels are expected to tip off with Notre Dame at 9:10 pm on the ACC Network.
