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Season Officially Over for UNC's James Brown

by: Ben Sherman02/20/26insidecarolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina center James Brown, who last appeared in a game on Dec. 22, had season-ending foot surgery on Wednesday, a school spokesperson confirmed on Friday.

The 6-foot-10, 240-pound sophomore from Aurora, Ill. appeared in nine games this season, totaling 11 points and 13 rebounds. His season highs were four points, three rebounds in eight minutes against Radford on Nov. 11.

Brown, who appeared in 18 games as a freshman, came to UNC ranked as the No. 91 overall prospect in the 2024 class by the Rivals Industry Ranking. He spent his senior season at Branson (Mo.) Link Academy.

Brown has been listed as injured on the availability report throughout the conference season, as well as sophomore center Ivan Matlekovic. They were joined last week by UNC’s starting frontcourt of Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson. In the absence of those four frontcourt players, UNC has started the only two others remaining on the roster – Jarin Stevenson and Zayden High – the last two games.

UNC is 20-6 (8-5 ACC) going into Saturday’s game at Syracuse.