James Brown UNC basketball 2025-26 player preview

Basketball season is just around the corner as the North Carolina Tar Heels hosted their blue-white scrimmage game over the weekend. This gave fans their first look at the new team in a scrimmage setting. And there a lot of new faces on the roster.

One player who is returning is forward James Brown.

The class of 2024 recruit opted to return for another year in hopes of earning a bigger role and developing his game in Chapel Hill. Brown did play sparingly last season as the Tar Heels wanted to treat it as a learning year. But here in 2025-26, Brown could have a bigger role and develop into a good forward that they can count on.

Let's get into our season preview for the forward.

James Brown Bio

Position: Forward

Height: 6-foot-10

Weight: 240 pounds

Number: 2

Hometown: Aurora, Illinois

High School: Link Academy (Missouri)

Social media: Instagram; X

James Brown 2024-2025 review

The former four-star recruit in North Carolina's 2024 recruiting class appeared in 18 total games as a freshman and averaged 1.2 points and 0.8 rebounds per game while shooting 71.4 percent from the field. He had just 21 total points and 15 total rebounds.

For Brown, his play was limited despite the team not really having a solid presence in the post until Ven-Allen Lubin emerged. It did feel like it was going to be a learning year for Brown as the staff wanted him to develop and get better through practicing.

He had a season-best four rebounds vs. Notre Dame in the win over the Fighting Irish in the ACC Tournament.

James Brown's projected role 2025-26

Brown won't go into this season as a starter. The Tar Heels added Caleb Wilson in the 2025 recruiting class as well as transfer center Henri Veesaar out of the portal. Those two are projected to start for UNC in the paint.

But that doesn't mean he can't have a significant role.

The forward should be in the mix in terms of being one of the first big men off the bench. While UNC's post play should be better this season, the depth is still lacking a little bit. If Brown gets better, he could have a valuable role right away.

James Brown scouting report

Via Eric Bossi of 247Sports in January of 2023:

To go along with his size, Brown has good length and a solid base. That solid base allows him to hold and control space on both ends of the floor and on the offensive end his skill level takes over from there. Comfortable operating on either side of the lane, Brown is armed with an assortment of jump hooks, up and under moves and soft touch to 12 feet. In transition he's a surprisingly good ball handler and decision maker for a big man. He sees the floor really well and delivers smart, on target passes to teammates for easy buckets. For a guy his size to make those types of reads on the move is both impressive and advanced. Those passing skills and feel also serve him well out of the high post where he finds cutters and the low post where he can find shooters out of double teams.

Maybe most impressive about Brown at this early stage is that he appears to be nearly ambidextrous around the rim. He's just as good of a finisher with his left as he is his right and he wastes no time using either to score around the rim.

James Brown 2025-26 bold prediction

I do think Brown can be a solid contributor this season. I'll predict he will eventually be the first big man to come off the bench for Hubert Davis. It won't be right away but I can see him being that piece in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: James Brown 2025-26 player season preview