Joe Brawner is an American former basketball player. He played college basketball for the North Carolina A&T Aggies and Winston-Salem State Rams. Brawner was the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore with the Aggies in 1979.

Brawner is from Washington, D.C.,^[1] and attended Spingarn High School.^[2] He was recruited to play for the North Carolina A&T Aggies by assistant coach George Felton under head coach Gene Littles.^[3]

Littles credited Brawner's development at point guard throughout his freshman season as being the catalyst for the Aggies success.^[4] He totalled 103 assists and led the team with 64 steals during the 1977–78 season.^[5] The Aggies won the 1978 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) tournament title.^[6]

Brawner was announced as the MEAC Player of the Year on February 22, 1979, after he had averaged 15.4 points per game during the 1978–79 season.^[7] The Aggies won a second consecutive MEAC tournament title in 1979.^[6]

Littles left the Aggies in 1979 to join the Utah Jazz coaching staff and was replaced by Don Corbett.^[8] Brawner and Harold Royster – the only other returning starter from the 1978–79 team – threatened to transfer to the East Carolina Panthers but were convinced to stay.^[8] Brawner averaged 20.6 points per game until he was suspended by Corbett in February 1980,^[9] and subsequently missed the last four games of the season.^[10] Brawner was selected to the All-MEAC first team in 1980.^[11] Corbett was "adamant" in a March 1980 interview that Brawner was no longer a part of the Aggies' future plans.^[10]

On September 24, 1980, it was announced that Brawner had left the Aggies and enrolled at Winston-Salem State University with intentions of playing basketball for the Rams.^[1] It was reported that he had a conflict with Corbett over a difference in desired playing styles.^[1] He made his debut for the Rams in December 1980.^[12]

Brawner played on the Aggies baseball team as a shortstop.^[13] He joined the team late in 1978 due to his basketball commitments.^[14] Brawner returned in 1979; head coach Mel Groomes stated that "I think that after being named player of the year, Joe wants to prove he is an all-around athlete" and believed Brawner had the potential to play professional baseball.^[13]