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Brooks to transfer portal

I wont dog on Brooks. He came in and worked hard and got better every year his first 3 years. The rest of his 2017 was an absolute abortion though. We would have been better off just having Blue Steel play with Berry, Maye, Pinson and Williams instead of bringing in that class for no reason other than filling a roster and then being stuck with them for 4 years
 
Wish him luck and appreciate his four years but he definitely had poor body language this year and I have to wonder if there was a disconnect between him and some teammates. There was rumors well before the season ended that he was going to transfer and now that it came true, that is an obvious indicator that he wasn’t all-in this year.
 
The only way this isn’t damning is if he knows Kessler is coming back and taking all of his court time.
 
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The type of comments I see often on here should LOVE Brooks. This was a 4 star limited guy who absolutely balled out on a awful team his junior year. Was a 4 year Tar Heel. Yet hate is spewed on him. Same posters cry about 1 or 2 year guys. Hard to have it both ways, but if you want to cry, I guess you can.
 
Surprised he is going to play another year in college unless he just wants to play for his father. Don’t see him ever playing in the League, so I thought he would head overseas and start making $!
I agree that those are the 2 most likely factors that he was weighing.

I do worry, though, that choosing to play in college but not here, means he doesn't see Hubert improving the style of play - at least insofar as it affects him.

Last season's drop-off for Brooks could just have been one of those things. Not everyone improves every year. Heck, even Hansbrough's senior year wasn't as good as his POY junior season.

But what we also saw this past season was a shift up front to benefit Bacot and our freshmen centers.

A lot of us thought that change would actually benefit Brooks, too. Sure, he would play fewer minutes, so his stats might drop a little, but he would be able to focus on playing his natural position at PF rather than playing out of position at center. So his effectiveness was likely to improve.

Unfortunately, while his PT dropped almost 20% (to a still-respectable 28 mpg), his scoring dropped by 39%, while his TS% dropped from a good 56.4 to a mediocre 50.2. His rebounding didn't flag (on a mpg basis) and his blocks and steals actually improved. But on a team that struggled to score, the drop in shooting effectiveness was deadly.

I don't know if Brooks felt undervalued or was just upset at his scoring but, as several have said, he didn't look like a happy camper for much of the season

Brooks was better than expected his freshman and sophomore seasons, and was superb as a junior. A shame he couldn't continue that trajectory as a senior. Maybe he hopes to resume that trajectory next year, but just doesn't see that happening here at UNC.

I'd rather see him making good bucks alongside Marcus in Serbia, but I wish him well. He fought hard for us every season. Maybe a little less the last season, but he's been very good for us and deserves better from some of our fans.
 
The type of comments I see often on here should LOVE Brooks. This was a 4 star limited guy who absolutely balled out on a awful team his junior year. Was a 4 year Tar Heel. Yet hate is spewed on him. Same posters cry about 1 or 2 year guys. Hard to have it both ways, but if you want to cry, I guess you can.
Great post. Thank you.
 
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Doesn't have an offensive position and can't really protect the rim. Kind of offsets his strengths. Super happy for his contributions here but I don't think it's a huge loss. I'm hopeful we can upgrade.
I definitely agree, we will upgrade
 
Great post. Thank you.
And then we see the season that just finished. I really don't think Hubert was all that upset for Brooks entering the portal. Not looking to unfairly dump on the kid but his motor just was not what it should have been last season or would have had to be to play for us next season.
 
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That’s being petty a bit petty, IMO. But you’re entitled to your opinion.

That’s being petty a bit petty, IMO. But you’re entitled to your opinion.

Yelp and fortunately for Brooks my rabid-opinion means absolutely nothing lol. But i wonder why he decided to go the TP route oppose to getting paid overseas. Risking an injury with 1 more year in school make no sense to me.
 
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Yelp and fortunately for Brooks my rabid-opinion means absolutely nothing lol. But i wonder why he decided to go the TP route oppose to getting paid overseas. Risking an injury with 1 more year in school make no sense to me.
I share your curiosity on this point.

Makes it sound to me like he's looking for a coach who can teach him different things to supplement what he learned at UNC.

In his shoes, I wonder what program(s) he thinks will do that.
 
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It would be amusing if Brooks ended up at Virginia.

I imagine Bennett would be happy to have his defense and rebounding. And if Brooks could develop his jump shooting, that could work for everybody.
 
But I wonder why he decided to go the TP route oppose to getting paid overseas. Risking an injury with 1 more year in school make no sense to me.
I wonder that as well. But he committed to us when no higher ranked recruits would, worked hard, represented us with class for four years, and earned his degree.

So if he wishes to move on to anywhere , whatta you say we not disparage him? You’re an ungrateful bastage.
 
I wonder that as well. But he committed to us when no higher ranked recruits would, worked hard, represented us with class for four years, and earned his degree.

So if he wishes to move on to anywhere , whatta you say we not disparage him? You’re an ungrateful bastage.

May be its to go play for his a father at Mississippi State...cant argue with that if so.
 
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Disclaimer alert, likely to piss off a lot of folks with what I want to say about this topic of Brooks just FYI! LOL

I noticed something in Brooks Jr season and frankly saw much to much more of it this past season. I recall, do not recall the team we played but that Jr season, Brooks was open down low but the ball did not find him, possession ended with a bad jump shot. That was followed by a trip down on the defensive end where the ball went in to the post with Brooks as the defender and he basically just stepped out of the way and allowed to guy to dunk, as Bacot tried to come over and challenge Brooks nearly blocked Bacot off? It was a weird series of plays, re-watched it several times and each time it just looked like Brooks copped an attitude. Roy pulled him a couple trips later and sat him for longer than just a breather. That was the first time I noticed actions from Brooks that struck me as an attitude issue.

This past season, I noticed to often, if the ball didn't go in to Brooks after he called for it a couple times, he would seem to drag a little bit on both ends. While I did notice as a Jr, when the ball went to Brooks most of the time he was going to shoot it no matter what, I took that as maybe he was the best option but making the extra pass did not seem to be something he was real concerned with. Last season, that to me became more pronounced, there were times I felt Brooks became a black hole for the ball when by contrast Sharpe, Bacot, and Kessler seemed not just willing to make the extra pass but good at it. It got to the point where I began to wonder if his team mates were limiting their passes to him for that reason.

After games Brooks always said the right things, Roy sang his praises constantly but the reality UNC fans watched is that Brooks didn't earn the minutes he got in the light of how our other 3 big men were playing. That may sound cold, may sound harsh but consider the one game Brooks was not available to play, we smoked the other team and our front court played with great chemistry. It was clear, at least to me that we didn't miss Brooks on the court at all that night and it was as well clear that at least I wanted to see us play more like that! While Brooks ended the regular season with an effective game vs duke, can't help but wonder if his minutes going elsewhere would not have allowed others to be just as if not more effective.

And now, knowing that UNC is now lite on front court guys, for all the love he expressed senior night, with 1 more season of eligibility remaining, he enters the portal? That feels a little bit like your wife telling you how much she loves you and a sentence or 2 later that she is leaving you for another man? I watched a 7ft freshman kid on multiple occasions go to the floor for loose balls, watched a couple of freshman big men hustle their butts off and it seemed at times that Brooks could not be bothered with all that? I watched Bacot go to war for rebounds and stick backs when Sharpe or Kessler were on the floor but that fight didn't seem the same when Brooks was out there? I do think Roy's love for the kid and make no mistake Roy had a special feeling for Brooks, I wonder if Roy didn't have a bit of a blind spot for the kid?

Now I had heard, don't think I discussed it here, may have done no more than simply allude to it but I was told that was not the most happy locker room and that a lot of the lack of happiness was our pre-season POY guy but that Roy did not realize this. Just as fans develop blind spots for their favorite players, coaches do to. Gary can see no wrong Platek or Joel ever did, I can see no wrong ever with Theo or George Lynch. We all have our blind spots and to me, Brooks was located well within Roy's. I do not think (I know but not going to say it) that Brooks was NOT located in Hubert's blind spot. Why, next and last paragraph (FYI, wasn't it clever of me to write this long so most of the potential readers that I would piss off would not take the time to read :)

One thing that I have begun to learn and I think UNC fans as a whole may begin to notice beginning next season is there is a fundamental difference in Roy and Hubert, a lot may seem the same but there is a base line KEY difference. Roy's primary goal was execution, how his system was executed on both ends, this was where everything began with Roy. You will see that Hubert's primary goal, his #1 thing is and will be playing hard, EFFORT. Roy didn't like to talk effort, he kind of assumed that was going to happen but in truth it didn't always. Roy's thing was execute exactly as I have taught you and we will win, however we have seen that the proper execution of what Roy wanted to do required very experienced teams. If a coach values execution over al else, can it a surprise to anyone that the coach will defer more to experienced players a tad to much? Hubert on the other hand will demand you give him flat out effort for the PT you get, he will live with you not executing to perfection, he will not live with a half arse effort level. Thus you have why Hubert wants kessler back and you have why he is not exactly broken hearted Brooks in now in the portal, at least IMO and I am not exactly the only one thinking that.
 
Disclaimer alert, likely to piss off a lot of folks with what I want to say about this topic of Brooks just FYI! LOL

I noticed something in Brooks Jr season and frankly saw much to much more of it this past season. I recall, do not recall the team we played but that Jr season, Brooks was open down low but the ball did not find him, possession ended with a bad jump shot. That was followed by a trip down on the defensive end where the ball went in to the post with Brooks as the defender and he basically just stepped out of the way and allowed to guy to dunk, as Bacot tried to come over and challenge Brooks nearly blocked Bacot off? It was a weird series of plays, re-watched it several times and each time it just looked like Brooks copped an attitude. Roy pulled him a couple trips later and sat him for longer than just a breather. That was the first time I noticed actions from Brooks that struck me as an attitude issue.

This past season, I noticed to often, if the ball didn't go in to Brooks after he called for it a couple times, he would seem to drag a little bit on both ends. While I did notice as a Jr, when the ball went to Brooks most of the time he was going to shoot it no matter what, I took that as maybe he was the best option but making the extra pass did not seem to be something he was real concerned with. Last season, that to me became more pronounced, there were times I felt Brooks became a black hole for the ball when by contrast Sharpe, Bacot, and Kessler seemed not just willing to make the extra pass but good at it. It got to the point where I began to wonder if his team mates were limiting their passes to him for that reason.

After games Brooks always said the right things, Roy sang his praises constantly but the reality UNC fans watched is that Brooks didn't earn the minutes he got in the light of how our other 3 big men were playing. That may sound cold, may sound harsh but consider the one game Brooks was not available to play, we smoked the other team and our front court played with great chemistry. It was clear, at least to me that we didn't miss Brooks on the court at all that night and it was as well clear that at least I wanted to see us play more like that! While Brooks ended the regular season with an effective game vs duke, can't help but wonder if his minutes going elsewhere would not have allowed others to be just as if not more effective.

And now, knowing that UNC is now lite on front court guys, for all the love he expressed senior night, with 1 more season of eligibility remaining, he enters the portal? That feels a little bit like your wife telling you how much she loves you and a sentence or 2 later that she is leaving you for another man? I watched a 7ft freshman kid on multiple occasions go to the floor for loose balls, watched a couple of freshman big men hustle their butts off and it seemed at times that Brooks could not be bothered with all that? I watched Bacot go to war for rebounds and stick backs when Sharpe or Kessler were on the floor but that fight didn't seem the same when Brooks was out there? I do think Roy's love for the kid and make no mistake Roy had a special feeling for Brooks, I wonder if Roy didn't have a bit of a blind spot for the kid?

Now I had heard, don't think I discussed it here, may have done no more than simply allude to it but I was told that was not the most happy locker room and that a lot of the lack of happiness was our pre-season POY guy but that Roy did not realize this. Just as fans develop blind spots for their favorite players, coaches do to. Gary can see no wrong Platek or Joel ever did, I can see no wrong ever with Theo or George Lynch. We all have our blind spots and to me, Brooks was located well within Roy's. I do not think (I know but not going to say it) that Brooks was NOT located in Hubert's blind spot. Why, next and last paragraph (FYI, wasn't it clever of me to write this long so most of the potential readers that I would piss off would not take the time to read :)

One thing that I have begun to learn and I think UNC fans as a whole may begin to notice beginning next season is there is a fundamental difference in Roy and Hubert, a lot may seem the same but there is a base line KEY difference. Roy's primary goal was execution, how his system was executed on both ends, this was where everything began with Roy. You will see that Hubert's primary goal, his #1 thing is and will be playing hard, EFFORT. Roy didn't like to talk effort, he kind of assumed that was going to happen but in truth it didn't always. Roy's thing was execute exactly as I have taught you and we will win, however we have seen that the proper execution of what Roy wanted to do required very experienced teams. If a coach values execution over al else, can it a surprise to anyone that the coach will defer more to experienced players a tad to much? Hubert on the other hand will demand you give him flat out effort for the PT you get, he will live with you not executing to perfection, he will not live with a half arse effort level. Thus you have why Hubert wants kessler back and you have why he is not exactly broken hearted Brooks in now in the portal, at least IMO and I am not exactly the only one thinking that.
Interesting points. I think we all saw a bit of "attitude" from Brooks, but I never looked at it the way you just laid it out. I saw a young man who sometimes looked demoralized, sometimes a bit mad, but I didn't take it to the next step. I'd be interested to hear if others interpreted that the same way you just did. What you describe is somewhat more negative than I had been "seeing." But you could be right.

As for Hubert demanding effort, something in one of his interviews I saw made me think you are exactly right about him prioritizing effort. If so, I may like that emphasis. I have gotten into "discussions" with some here when we had a bad game, but I cut the team (or individual players) slack because I thought they worked their butts off. A win would obviously be better, but absent a win, hard effort is still nice to watch. Sometimes the other team is just better.
 
If Brooks intends to play for his father, I assume that will be announced quickly. I mean why wait? But if he doesn't commit quickly, I'll take that to mean he really is looking for some specific coaching/training.

An earlier poster mention that Cal was interested. I'd hate to see Brooks come off the bench at UK. But if Cal can give him help with his future career, I'll be OK with that.
 
I refuse to believe that someone described as "perfect" by the coach that watched him 24/7 for 4 years has an attitude problem! I have no issue believing he was disappointed, angry, and at times demoralized by this year! I firmly believe that the accolades gave him the impression, mistakenly, that he was more than he is and would explode on the scene as the go to National POY candidate. Reality was a bit hard to swallow and the glut of talented Bigs clearly was going to relegate him to his previous role. Anyone can have a blind spot but even when you love something you don't miss all of the flaws! I also believe there are some hidden, possibly even from the coaching staff, injuries or health issues that nagged the young man.

Even if I am completely wrong in my assessment and D is 100% spot on.......Family, especially Family that came when others wouldn't and sacrificed to help right our ship, should get better treatment from those on here! The man just said he was leaving and we are so petty we can't resist kicking him in the pants on the way out! (This isn't directed at D because his thoughts were at least explained. Others, however were simply not worthy if you claim to be a Tar Heel!) Unacceptable!

Mr. Brooks, I appreciate everything you have given this great U. I wish you luck and great fortune! I truly hope you find what you are looking for and will remain a Tar Heel for life!
 
Some seem to forget Brooks committed to us when A LOT of people were turning us down. He isn't a typical 4-year starter, but he was the best big of the class we got. He showed progression and loyalty to the program and for that I'm grateful. I hate how so many (I'm guilty too) are so negative on kids that are giving all they have while they can. We just had a down period of recruiting tied to the scandal and negative recruiting so many were doing.
 
Good luck to Brooks wherever he goes. Obviously senior Garrison was very different from junior Garrison.
 
I refuse to believe that someone described as "perfect" by the coach that watched him 24/7 for 4 years has an attitude problem! I have no issue believing he was disappointed, angry, and at times demoralized by this year! I firmly believe that the accolades gave him the impression, mistakenly, that he was more than he is and would explode on the scene as the go to National POY candidate. Reality was a bit hard to swallow and the glut of talented Bigs clearly was going to relegate him to his previous role. Anyone can have a blind spot but even when you love something you don't miss all of the flaws! I also believe there are some hidden, possibly even from the coaching staff, injuries or health issues that nagged the young man.

Even if I am completely wrong in my assessment and D is 100% spot on.......Family, especially Family that came when others wouldn't and sacrificed to help right our ship, should get better treatment from those on here! The man just said he was leaving and we are so petty we can't resist kicking him in the pants on the way out! (This isn't directed at D because his thoughts were at least explained. Others, however were simply not worthy if you claim to be a Tar Heel!) Unacceptable!

Mr. Brooks, I appreciate everything you have given this great U. I wish you luck and great fortune! I truly hope you find what you are looking for and will remain a Tar Heel for life!
Trust me, I took no joy at all from what I wrote but I can't ignore what I watched either. It does strike me a bit like Kennedy Meeks as a Jr, we all watched Meeks playing in what looked like a total funk for most of that season and we all knew something was wrong, most labeled him as an attitude issue as well where in fact we later discovered he has struggling with a painful back. However, I was given a hint he was hurt, not what it was, only that he was playing with pain, alluded to that in threads that were pretty harsh toward meeks. Thing is, I have not heard a single thing that indicates that is the case with Brooks. My feelings on this have been somewhat amplified with Brooks electing to enter the portal rather than come back to his team mates at a time we are so lite on big men with Kessler, manley, Walker miller in the portal, and Sharpe & Bacot flirting with the NBA and that looking like we have only a chance of getting Bacot back. I would think that if I saw my team in such need of big men, if Hubert was OK with me coming back, and if the decision to fore stall playing for pay was made, that he would have come back to his team mates, especially if he was in fact their leader. While I can to a degree accept he may want to play his single season remaining for his father he has not yet announced that is his plan.

I ask, what if Brooks ends up some program other than his fathers? Would that not strike you as being very strange?
 
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