Lucas: One Tough G

By Adam Lucas

COLUMBUS—Even Sean May winced when he saw what had happened to Garrison Brooks.

In the exact moment that Brooks took the elbow from Noah Dickerson that split open his lip and caused damage to two of his teeth, no one was exactly sure what had happened. It was obvious a collision had occurred; this wasn't one of those "I think he might be bleeding" moments. Elbow hit tooth and the blood flowed immediately, with Brooks ushered to the locker room straight off the Nationwide Arena court.

A bevy of medical personnel soon surrounded him, with athletic trainer Doug Halverson joined by one of Carolina's team physicians, Dr. Tom Brickner, and a pair of NCAA-mandated dentists who were already at the game site.

But on the Tar Heel bench, they didn't have the benefit of replay. So May was startled when Halverson showed him a photograph of the damage. There is a history of these types of pictures in Carolina basketball lore, including a famous one of Tyler Hansbrough at the Smith Center with his jersey covered in blood following a collision with Gerald Henderson's elbow.

Even with a lifetime in the game, May grimaced as soon as he saw the picture of Brooks' mouth.

"It was bad," said the 2005 Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

This fit with the description offered by Brooks' fellow Tar Heels, who got a first hand look in the locker room after Carolina's win over Washington when Roy Williams asked Brooks to smile for his teammates. Brooks understandably was not available to the media after the game so he could receive more treatment, but descriptions from other players ranged from "nasty" to "disgusting."

The sophomore sat the final 12 minutes of the half, during which he begged the assembled medical staff to let him return to the game. And then, somewhat surprisingly, there he was in the layup line before the second half began, his lower lip—in which he had taken stitches—noticeably swollen, two of his teeth showing obvious damage.

And still he played 15 minutes in the second half, scoring three points, grabbing three rebounds and handing out three assists.

"What that shows his teammates is that he will sacrifice everything," May said. "He's willing to sacrifice his body to be out there for them."

Maybe his stat line doesn't sound especially impressive, until you factor in his stalwart defensive work. Dickerson scored eight of his ten points with Brooks out of the game, and he looked to be rolling in the first half after Brooks left, scoring six quick points.

But then Brooks and his stitches returned, and Dickerson got only two field goal attempts in the second half, missing both. We're accustomed to those unsung Tar Heels who don't score a ton but are essential in other ways, but they're often in the backcourt. Brooks is the rare Jackie Manuel-type player who often does his best work away from the ball and away from the attention of the cameras.

"He does his work defensively early," May said. "He does a really good job of staying between his man and the ball. He's tough once his guy catches the ball. He is strong and has a good base, and he makes guys score over him. He's the anchor of our defense. He doesn't score a lot of points and doesn't get the highlights, but if you ask his teammates how much he helps them, they will tell you."

OK, then, Coby White. How much does Garrison Brooks help you be a better player?

"He's always in the right spot at the right time," White said. "He helps us out tremendously defensively. A good team has a big man who is a leader in the center of the defense, and that's what he is. No matter what role he has in the game, he understands it and plays it to the best of his ability."

Remember, he's just a sophomore, and yet he has started every game this season in the post. With two years left to play, it's fair to wonder if he might have just a little bit of George Lynch in him. He's not there yet—"He can get a lot better, and that's our job to help him get better," May says—but given the progress he's made from day one to today, it's not impossible that he could reach that level. He needs to rebound a little more and he needs a more complete offensive game, but there's a chance. And even without that development, even as it stands right this second, Garrison Brooks is one of the most important players on one of the 16 remaining teams with a chance to win the 2019 national championship.

He is not the best scorer on the team. He is not the best rebounder on the team. But imagine Carolina without him. It wouldn't be pretty, just as it wasn't during the stretch in the first half when he was in the locker room--not coincidentally, the only span in the game when it felt like Washington had a chance.

"If you look at the foundation of what he is, it's everything a Carolina big guy wants to be," May says. "We just have to help him offensively, and that will come. You're seeing a great player mold into shape."

You're also watching a personality emerge. This is a player who allowed even those around the program to mispronounce his hometown of Lafayette, Alabama, for nearly two years (it's luh-FET). When Brooks arrived on campus, his deep Alabama accent was the subject of much hilarity among his teammates, and roommate Sterling Manley still declares he understood very little of what Brooks said in those first weeks in Chapel Hill.

But a wickedly funny sense of humor is starting to materialize, not unlike the way that Brice Johnson slowly became comfortable showing the public his personality. Brooks and White have a season-long running debate about his correct nickname, a battle that has been fought both on Twitter and on the Carolina Insider podcast. White, for no good reason, tried to persuade the team that Brooks' family refers to him as "Lil' Gerb," because—according to White—"he looked like a gerbil when he chewed his food when he was little."

There's only one problem: White made up the entire story. But it's become clear that Brooks doesn't like the falsified nickname, which as usually happens in a locker room of college students, means his teammates love to refer to him as Lil' Gerb. "I'm Team Lil' Gerb for sure," Shea Rush said this week.

Brooks' performance on Sunday has the originator of the hated moniker rethinking his position.

"After today," White said, seemingly pained by the necessity of offering some begrudging praise, "I think we might have to change it."

Oh really, Coby? Assistant coach Phil Ford used to call Lynch "Mangani," because Ford knew Lynch was a warrior. Something along those lines? Something that shows everyone just how indispensable Brooks is to the Tar Heels? Something that lets him know how much his teammates respect him?

White considered these options.

"I think," White said, "he might be Big Gerb for the rest of the tournament."

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Sterling Manley

Shea Rush

Coby White

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