Here’s the player at the top of my crowded Kentucky basketball ones-to-watch list

Random notes:

▪ There is no shortage of Kentucky men’s basketball players I’m interested in seeing progress this season, but Brandon Garrison might be at the top of my list.

First of all, Garrison is the only McDonald’s All-American on Mark Pope’s roster. Second, he is 6-foot-10 with a growing skill set. Last Saturday, Garrison scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds in his 17 minutes during UK’s epic 90-89 overtime win at Gonzaga. My guess is that’s a sign of things to come.

“I think it’s going good,” Garrison said Tuesday of a season in which he missed one game with an Achilles injury. “I’m playing my role and helping my team get big wins. It’s going good. Just happy to be here.”

What is sure to help Garrison’s development is the fact that every day in practice he battles 7-foot starter Amari Williams and the crafty 6-11 Andrew Carr. And after this week, Kentucky has just two games in 20 days. That means plenty of practice time.

“It’s challenging for sure,” Garrison said. “You know (Amari) is big, strong and can make some moves I can’t do. It helps me in games against other defenders like Amari or Andrew.”

▪ Over its last four games entering Wednesday, Kentucky was shooting 29-for-107 from 3-point range for 27.1%. But opponents were only 29-for-99 from 3-point range for 29.3%. In fact, through Monday’s games, Kentucky ranked No. 6 nationally in 3-point defense with opponents making 25.3% of their attempts.

▪ Kentucky takes on Missouri in the Pittsburgh Regional of the NCAA volleyball tournament at 1 p.m. Thursday. The match will be televised by ESPN2.

Kentucky defeated Missouri twice this season — 3-0 at Memorial Coliseum on Oct. 6 and 3-1 in the regular-season finale on Nov. 27 in Columbia. Missouri advanced by upsetting SMU in Dallas last weekend.

So I asked UK coach Craig Skinner, is it an advantage or a disadvantage to play a team you’ve beaten twice during the season?

“It’s the next chance to get better,” Skinner said. “I don’t know if it’s an advantage. You know each other really well, so there’s not going to be very many surprises. I don’t see a disadvantage. No matter who you play in the third round of this tournament it’s going to be a great match.”

If Kentucky wins Thursday, it would play the winner of No. 1-ranked Pittsburgh vs. Oregon at 1 p.m. Saturday. ESPN2 will televise that match, as well. Pittsburgh is the No. 1 seed in the regional, with Kentucky the No. 3, Oregon No. 4 and Missouri No. 7.

▪ Congratulations to former Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch, who was officially inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

▪ My opinion is that Alabama had no reason to complain about being left out of the College Football Playoff.

▪ I am not all that bothered by the number of Kentucky football players who have entered the transfer portal. Way of the current world. Who’s coming is more important than who’s leaving.

Look at Duke, where quarterback Maalik Murphy threw for 26 touchdowns as a sophomore for the 9-3 Blue Devils and immediately jumped into the portal.

▪ There are great finds in the portal. There might not have been a more fun player to watch in college football season than Arizona State running back Cameron Skattebo, who rushed for 1,568 yards in leading the Sun Devils to the Big 12 title. Skattebo transferred to ASU from Sacramento State.

▪ WLWT reported Tuesday that while quarterback Joe Burrow was leading the Cincinnati Bengals to a 27-20 win at the Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football,” police were called to Burrow’s home because of a reported break-in.

▪ On the heels of the SEC dominating the ACC 14-2 in their annual men’s basketball challenge, Missouri knocks off then No. 1 Kansas 76-67 in Columbia. Remember, Missouri went 0-18 in conference play last season for coach Dennis Gates.

Through Monday night’s games, there were five SEC teams ranked in KenPom’s top 10. The list: No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 7 Alabama, No. 8 Florida, No. 9 Kentucky.

This story was originally published December 11, 2024 at 7:00 AM.

John Clay

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-472-4218

John Clay is a sports columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Central Kentucky, he covered UK football from 1987 until being named sports columnist in 2000. He has covered 20 Final Fours and 42 consecutive Kentucky Derbys. Support my work with a digital subscription