Garrison Brooks: Nothing I Can Say To Prepare Team to Play Duke

Junior forward is the only current Tar Heel to score against Duke

Garrison Brooks has played six games against Duke and scored 40 points. While he’s far from a grizzled veteran of the Duke-Carolina rivalry, he’s the only North Carolina player expected to dress for the game who has scored against the Blue Devils, and his 120 minutes against Duke are more than 86 percent of the current Tar Heels’ total in the rivalry.

Despite being the most experienced player on the roster, Brooks doesn’t think he has anything to tell the younger Tar Heels about what to expect.

“No I haven’t talked about it with the guys yet,” he said. “It is crazy to think about (being the only Tar Heel to score against Duke). But no. There’s nothing I can truly say to prepare our team to play. They have to just live in the moment, be ready to play, just do what they can do.”

When he was a newcomer to the rivalry, there was nothing anyone could tell him to prepare.

“I mean, I don’t remember anybody saying anything to me to try to motivate me to play in this game,” he said, “just because it’s so exciting and the history behind it.”

Brooks remembers his first moments on the court against Duke.

“It was crazy,” he said. “Seeing it on TV, I knew it would be amazing, but seeing it in person and playing in it is just amazing.”

Brooks will have a major role in defending Duke center Vernon Carey Jr., but he didn’t share any details from the scouting report on Carey. “I ain’t got it yet,” he told the media. “Hopefully, you can tell me. He’s a really dominant big man, a really good player, one of best bigs in the country. I’ll try my best to defend him.”