Brandon Garrison is leaving the Kentucky basketball team after two seasons
One of the original players in the Mark Pope era of Kentucky basketball is leaving the program.
Brandon Garrison, who signed with UK shortly after Pope became the head coach of the Cats two years ago, will enter the NCAA transfer portal, which officially opens Tuesday.
Garrison averaged 4.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per game for Kentucky during the 2025-26 season.
The 6-foot-11 post player from the Oklahoma City area was a McDonald’s All-American in high school and began his college career at Oklahoma State, where he started in 29 of 32 games as a freshman. The Cowboys went just 12-20 that season, however, and head coach Mike Boynton was fired at the end of the campaign.
Pope made Garrison one of his top targets in the portal after coming to Kentucky in April 2024 and ultimately beat out several high-major programs for his commitment.
Garrison came to Lexington with the understanding that he would most likely be the backup center to fifth-year senior Amari Williams in Year 1, and that’s what happened. Garrison told the Herald-Leader last offseason that Pope’s “two-year plan” for him included stepping into a starting role as a junior, a process that he hoped would turn him into a legitimate NBA draft prospect by the end of the 2025-26 season.
Though Garrison did start the first five games of the season, he was pulled from the starting lineup in favor of Malachi Moreno after UK’s 83-66 loss to Michigan State in Madison Square Garden on Nov. 18.
Garrison joined seniors Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen, as well as Collin Chandler and Moreno, as one of only five Kentucky players to appear in all 36 games this past season. His final 31 appearances came off the bench, though the junior forward had two of his best showings in the postseason.
In UK’s SEC Tournament opener against LSU, he tallied 17 points and five rebounds to help the Cats fend off the Tigers’ upset bid. Garrison had 10 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots in Kentucky’s overtime win over Santa Clara in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In both of those games, Garrison played well defensively in the final minutes.
“We’ve always felt like BG was probably the best switching 5 man in the country,” Pope said after the Santa Clara win. “I mean, really, how many times have we talked about that. And tonight he got a chance to prove it. … What he did to switch 1 through 5 down the stretch was unbelievable. His discipline, his stance, his mobility, his ability to contest shots legal was brilliant. So it was an unbelievable performance by BG. Super happy for him.”
Pope has praised Garrison throughout his two-year Kentucky career, but the UK head coach is realigning his roster this spring to make room for highly touted additions out of the transfer portal while working within an NIL and revenue-sharing budget that will force difficult personnel decisions and leave some players without set roles.
Moreno, who started 30 games as a freshman, is expected to be back in Lexington for his sophomore year and will be projected as Kentucky’s starting 5 next season. Garrison, who has only one year of NCAA eligibility remaining, should have plenty of suitors in the transfer portal.
Garrison joins Jasper Johnson and Jaland Lowe as the third UK player who has signaled his intentions to enter the transfer portal this month.
