Kentucky Basketball Roster Tracker: Surprise! Brandon Garrison is a CAT

Koby Brea was expected to be the next pledge for Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats — and then Oklahoma State’s Brandon Garrison shook up the college basketball world with a surprise commitment Tuesday morning.

The former McDonald’s All-American took visits to Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, but never saw Lexington. Just a day removed from his official to Fayetteville, though, the 6-11, 245-pound big man out of Oklahoma City decided to wear blue and white as a Wildcat.

Garrison appeared in 32 games for the Cowboys with 29 starts, averaging 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds in 22.7 minutes per contest, closing out the year ranked fifth in the Big 12 in blocks per game at 1.47. A former top-50 recruit out of high school, the four-star prospect will have three years of eligibility remaining at Kentucky, a high-ceiling pickup for Pope and his staff. It’s the seventh overall, joining the likes of Collin Chandler, Travis Perry, Amari Williams, Lamont Butler, Otega Oweh and Andrew Carr.

Brea is not expected to be far behind as he wraps up his official visit to Lexington.

Elsewhere, a few draft notes came through early Tuesday afternoon that impact both current and future Wildcats. In the early entry candidate list officially released by the NBA, DJ Wagner, Adou Thiero, Ugonna Onyenso and Aaron Bradshaw were all missing, meaning they will be returning to college in 2024-25. Bradshaw has signed with Ohio State while the other three continue to explore their options.

As for names of note for the upcoming Kentucky roster, signees Lamont Butler, Amari Williams and Andrew Carr were all on the list, as is BYU star Jaxson Robinson, who entered the portal this past weekend. They will have until May 29 at 11:59 PM ET to withdraw in order to maintain eligibility

GONE (GRADUATED/NBA DRAFT): Antonio Reeves, Tre Mitchell, Justin Edwards, Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard

TRANSFER PORTAL: Adou Thiero, Aaron Bradshaw (Ohio State), Joey Hart (Ball State), Zvonimir Ivisic (Arkansas), DJ Wagner, Jordan Burks, Ugonna Onyenso

IMPORTANT DATES

April 27: NBA Early Entry Eligibility Deadline (11:59 p.m. ET)
May 1: Transfer Portal Closes
May 12: NBA Draft Lottery
May 13-19: NBA Combine
May 29: NCAA early entrant withdrawal deadline (11:59 pm ET)
June 16: NBA Draft Early Entry Entrant Withdrawal Deadline (5 p.m. ET)
June 26: NBA Draft 2024 First Round
June 27: NBA Draft 2024 Second Round

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UPDATES

April 30: Oklahoma State’s Brandon Garrison commits to Kentucky

The 6-11 freshman averaged 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game this season, shooting 57.2% from the field
Visited Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma before choosing Kentucky without ever making the trip to Lexington

April 29: Dayton transfer Koby Brea visits Kentucky

Cut list down to Kentucky, UConn, Kansas, Duke and North Carolina
6-foot-5, 175-pound combo guard who averaged 11.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in 33 games as a junior in 2023-24.
Started four games while averaging 29.1 minutes per outing. Shot 49.8 percent from deep on 201 attempts this past season.
Originally heard from the Wildcats on April 16

April 29: Saint Mary’s transfer Aidan Mahaney commits to UConn

6-foot-3 guard chose the Huskies over Kentucky, Creighton and Virginia, among others
Averaged 13.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 33.3 minutes per game for Saint Mary’s this past season, starting all 34 games.
A two-time First Team All-WCC performer.

April 28: Wake Forest’s Andrew Carr picks Kentucky

Averaged 13.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 32.5 minutes per outing for the Deamon Deacons in 2023-24. Started all 35 games played.
Also visited Texas Tech and Villanova before signing with UK

April 28: Utah State’s Great Osobor arrives in Lexington for official visit

Checks in at 6-foot-8, 250 pounds. Averaged 17.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game in 2023-24
Was tabbed the Mountain West Player of the Year this past season
First heard from Kentucky on April 16

April 27: Otega Oweh, you are a Wildcat

Committed to Kentucky over Oregon after visiting Lexington earlier in the week.
Nicknamed “Otega-Tron” for his ability to transform into whatever kind of defender his team needed.
The fifth player on board for Kentucky’s 2024-25 roster.

April 27: Andrej Stojakovic commits to California

With a final three of Kentucky, North Carolina, and California, the West Coast native elected to stay close to home, choosing the Golden Bears.
A visit to Kentucky was reportedly in the works, but Stojakovic committed to California before he could make it to Lexington.
Averaged 7.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per contest. He shot 40.9 percent from the floor, 32.7 percent from deep, and 52.8 percent from the line.
Son of longtime NBA veteran and three-time All-Star Peja Stojakovic.

April 27: BYU’s Jaxson Robinson enters the transfer portal

Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year this past season after posting per-game averages of 14.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 26.4 minutes per game.
Entered the NBA Draft on April 23
Says his recruitment is “100% open” should he decide to return to school, though Kentucky is seen as a heavy favorite to land his commitment

April 26: Lamont Butler commits to Kentucky

Another significant defensive piece for Mark Pope going into year one. Along with Williams, UK has five conference Defensive Player of the Year awards between them.
A trip to Las Vegas from Pope and Co. sealed the deal.
One year of eligibility remains for the point guard.

April 25: Miami’s Wooga Poplar added to contact list

6-foot-5 guard averaged 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 31.1 minutes this past season.
Reported by Dushawn London of 247Sports.
St. John’s, Kansas, Villanova, Temple, Ole Miss, Florida State, and Arizona State have also reached out.

April 25: Utah’s Deivon Smith becomes serious point guard target for Pope

The 6-foot point guard averaged 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 7.1 assists in 29.5 minutes per game.
Smith started his college career at Mississippi State (2020-21) before transferring to Georgia Tech for two seasons (2021-23) and then to Utah last season.
Posted five triple-doubles in 2023-24.
Scheduled official visit to Kentucky, which has since been postponed

April 23: Kentucky reaches out to Duke’s TJ Power

Played sparingly as a freshman last season, averaging just 2.1 points and 0.7 rebounds in seven minutes per outing across 26 appearances.
Arkansas, Michigan, BYU, Wake Forest, Southern California, Miami (FL), Notre Dame, West Virginia, Boston College, and Iowa have also reached.

April 23: Utah State’s Great Osobor locks in 4 visits

Osobor, who shares the same agent as Amari Williams, locked in an official visit with Kentucky for April 29-31.
Also visiting Louisville (May 1-3), Texas Tech (May 4-6), and Washington (May 7-9).
Mountain West Player of the Year in 2023-24 with averages of 17.7 points, nine rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 33.6 minutes per contest.

April 23: Former Kentucky center Ugonna Onyenso enters transfer portal

Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgetown, Louisville, and Florida were among the first schools to reach out
The Crimson Tide have since emerged as the favorite to land his commitment
Originally declared for the NBA Draft on April 16, but was not included on the early entrant list

April 22: Kentucky contacts Minnesota’s Elijah Hawkins

5-foot-11 point guard averaged 9.5 points and 7.5 assists per game in 2023-24, tied for the most in the Big Ten.
Last year he shot 37.6% from three and scored in double figures 18 times on a Minnesota team that finished with 19 wins.
Started college career at Howard for two seasons.

April 22: Collin Chandler signs with Kentucky, Travis Perry reaffirms commitment

Chandler committed to Kentucky on April 16 but was not announced as signed until almost a week later. The former BYU signee is officially a Wildcat.
The same day, Perry confirmed that he would join Kentucky for the 2024-25 season.

April 21: Amari Williams is a Wildcat

Defense was not a strength of Mark Pope’s teams at BYU. Defense is what his first significant transfer portal addition does best. Williams was a three-time CAA Defensive Player of the Year for Drexel.
Williams picked Kentucky over Mississippi State.
The 6-foot-10 big man made the decision after officially visiting Lexington this weekend.

April 20: Kentucky contacts Duke’s Sean Stewart

Kentucky joins Kansas State, Indiana, Arkansas, USC, Florida State, Cincinnati, Georgetown, Arizona State, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Baylor, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Cal, Stanford, South Carolina, Washington, Howard, UCSB and Harvard to express interest
Was the No. 12 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting cycle
The 6-9 freshman out of Windermere, Florida averaged 2.6 points and 3.2 rebounds in just 8.4 minutes per game this season for the Blue Devils

April 19: Joey Hart commits to Ball State

The 6-5 sharpshooter out of Linton, IN entered the portal as a redshirt freshman on April 8 after playing just ten minutes in his debut season as a Wildcat.
He scored three points in Lexington — a made 3-pointer in Kentucky’s win over Marshall back on November 24.
Also considered Ole Miss, West Virginia and UCF before choosing Ball State

April 19: Jordan Burks enters the transfer portal

Averaged 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in 7.2 minutes per outing as a freshman
Was a three-star recruit in high school out of Overtime Elite
The 6-8 forward only saw at least 10 minutes in seven of his 20 games played

April 19: Adou Thiero cuts list to five, includes Kentucky

Previously entering the portal on March 28, the 6-8 forward is down to Kentucky, North Carolina, Pitt, Indiana and Arkansas
Took a visit to Pittsburgh — the hometown school

April 19: Kentucky makes final six for Villanova’s TJ Bamba

The 6-5, 215-pound guard is down to UK, Louisville, Stanford, Florida, Memphis and Oregon
Bamba averaged 10.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, shooting 43.0% from the field, 36.9% from three and 82.4% at the line

April 18: Reed Sheppard declares or the NBA Draft

The star guard is the No. 7 overall prospect in ESPN’s list of best available draft prospects
He has decided to forgo the remainder of his college eligibility
“I’m going all-in,” Sheppard told ESPN. “The opportunity I have is great. I’ve gotten really good feedback showing where I can be in the draft. I had an unbelievable year at Kentucky. It was such a fun year. It’s not easy leaving the fans and the school I dreamed of playing at. I need to do what’s best for me, and that’s heading to the NBA.”

April 18: BYU’s Aly Khalifa commits to Louisville over Kentucky

The 6-11, 270-pound center out of Alexandria, Egypt previously announced three finalists: Kentucky, Louisville and BYU
Khalifa averaged 5.7 points, 4.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per game on 38.6/31.5/62.1 shooting splits
Originally entered portal on April 12 with a ‘do not contact’ tag
He will be redshirting in 2023-24 while rehabbing a knee injury

April 16: Oklahoma’s Otega Oweh hears from Pope

Pope reached out to Oweh this week, according to KSR+’s Jacob Polacheck
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound combo guard averaged 11.4 points and 3.8 rebounds, playing in 32 games for Oklahoma as a sophomore in 2023-24
He started in 28 games and averaged 24.8 minutes per contest
Oweh is set to visit Oregon on April 19 and Texas A&M on April 23

April 16: Collin Chandler commits to Kentucky

The 6-4 scorer is rated as the No. 34 overall prospect and No. 6 combo guard in the final 2022 On3 Player Rankings
Chandler spent two years on mission ahead of his college basketball debut in 2024-25
2022 Utah Gatorade Player of the Year, averaged 21.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals as a senior in high school
Committed to BYU over Arizona, Gonzaga, Oregon, Stanford and Utah, among others

“I’m ready to go to the next level,” Onyenso told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. “I’m not thinking about coming back to play college basketball. I’m 100% focused on the NBA.”
Onyenso averaged 3.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in 19 minutes per contest this past season
The 7-foot center is the No. 47 overall prospect in ESPN’s list of best available draft prospects
He signed with an agent, but did not officially shut the door for a return to college, despite making it clear he has no interest in coming back to school

April 15: Zvonimir Ivisic transfers to Arkansas

“I made the lifetime decision to come to college for a few reasons,” Ivisic announced. “Main one’s to win a national championship and go to the NBA. Monumental part of that decision was Coach Cal, and no one does both of those at the same time than him. That’s why I am excited to announce that I am committing to Coach Cal and the Arkansas Razorbacks!”
Ivisic racked up 15 total appearances in Lexington, averaging 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 57.7% from the field and 37.5% from three.

April 15: Aaron Bradshaw commits to Ohio State

Bradshaw took an official visit to Columbus over the weekend and announced his commitment to open the week on Monday.
The former top-five recruit was the first portal entry for the Wildcats to commit elsewhere
He originally entered the transfer portal on April 8
The 7-foot-1 freshman averaged 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game this season while shooting 57.6% from the field.

April 15: DJ Wagner enters transfer portal

The 6-foot-3 former five-star recruit averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 25.8 minutes per game for Kentucky this past season

April 15: Northern Illinois transfer David Coit hears from the Wildcats

Kentucky joins TCU, Louisville, Utah, Washington State and Oregon State as schools to reach out, according to The Portal Report
Averaged 20.8 points, 3.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game
40.7% FG, 33.7% 3PT, 88.5% FT

April 14: Kentucky reaches out to Oklahoma State transfer Javon Small

Kansas, Miami, Indiana, Texas and Louisville are other schools with mutual interest, sources tell KSR
Averaged 15.1 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 4.1 APG, shooting 44% overall last season
Set to take official visit to Miami this week

April 12: BYU’s Jaxson Robinson becomes name to know for Kentucky

The 6-7 guard averaged a team-high 14.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 26.4 minutes per outing.
He shot 42.6 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from deep (6.9 attempts per game), and 90.8 percent from the free throw line.

April 9: Rob Dillingham enters the NBA Draft, forgoes remaining eligibility

Dillingham’s time in Lexington comes to a close with a season average of 15.2 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game while shooting 47.5% from the field and 44.4% from three.
He is currently the No. 4 overall prospect in ESPN’s list of best-available players in the 2024 draft

April 4: Justin Edwards enters the NBA Draft

The former five-star wing becomes the first player to forgo his time at Kentucky and enter the NBA Draft
He is currently rated as the No. 30 overall prospect in ESPN’s list of best available players in the draft pool, good for third on the team behind Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard