Brown's Paxson Wojcik transfers to college basketball royalty. Where's he going?
Paxson Wojcik will play his final season of college basketball with a blueblood.
Brown’s rugged guard announced his commitment to North Carolina in a Monday night post on social media. Wojcik has exhausted his eligibility with the Bears — the Ivy League doesn’t allow fifth-year players to exercise a bonus COVID-19 year as granted by the NCAA.
“Couldn’t be more excited to be a Tar Heel!” Wojcik said through his personal Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Wojcik was an all-conference selection with Brown in 2022-23. He reached double figures in all but three of his 27 games and hit for at least 20 points in five of his last eight. Wojcik collected a season-high 25 points and eight rebounds in the finale, a home loss to Yale that denied the Bears a place in the conference playoffs.
Wojcik logged the highest percentage of minutes in league play as a senior and was a top-10 finisher in offensive rating, defensive rebounding percentage, assist rate, turnover rate, free-throw rate, 2-point shooting and 3-point shooting. He was second on the team at both 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
Wojcik has long-standing ties to the area through his father, Doug, now an assistant coach at Michigan State. The elder Wojcik was an assistant with the Tar Heels from 2000-03 and was the head coach at Charleston from 2012-14. The younger Wojcik’s biography on the Brown website listed his home state as South Carolina.
Wojcik joined the Bears after spending his first two seasons with Loyola Chicago. He played in the Sweet 16 with the 2020-21 edition of the Ramblers and joined former grassroots teammate Perry Cowan with Brown. Wojcik prepped at Indiana power La Lumiere and played his summer ball for the Chicago-area Illinois Wolves.
The Bears finished 14-13 overall last season, 7-7 in league play. They counted nonconference road wins over Bryant and the University of Rhode Island, a home victory over Sweet 16 qualifier Princeton and a road win at Harvard. Wojcik hit for 23 points and eight rebounds in that 68-65 triumph against the Crimson.
Kino Lilly Jr. will look to build on an all-conference effort as a sophomore at Brown. Kalu Anya (left hand), Malachi Ndur (left knee) and Nana Owusu-Anane (right leg) should all be fully healthy after missing time or playing through pain down the stretch. The Bears also expect to return veteran guards Dan Friday, Aaron Cooley, Kimo Ferrari and Felix Kloman alongside sophomore forward Landon Lewis.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Brown's Paxson Wojcik will play for North Carolina
