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]