Brandon Garrison and Malachi Moreno make the most of Jayden Quaintance's absence

Kentucky‘s version of next-man-up comes in the form of a 7’0″, 250-pound McDonald’s All-American with a 7’1″ wingspan and team-high 9’4″ standing reach — not the worst situation for the Wildcats to be in as they wait for future lottery pick Jayden Quaintance to return to live action coming off a torn ACL. True freshman Malachi Moreno will be splitting reps at the five with Brandon Garrison — another former Burger Boy, all three bigs sharing that honor — until then, however long that takes.

There are other frontcourt options with Mo Dioubate and Andrija Jelavic at the four and Reece Potter helping out as a 7’1″ 3-point threat, but Mark Pope is pushing his chips in on Garrison and Moreno to do the heavy lifting at the five until he has to figure out how to juggle the minutes when Quaintance returns.

“Yeah, it’s interesting how this goes because right now you go for these — whether it’s two-a-days or long practices, and you can’t get a single rep off, especially for those two, right?” Pope told KSR at SEC Tipoff ’26. “So they’re taking full advantage of it. … Those two get it. They love each other right now because they are pushing each other so hard.

“It’s a fistfight every day, and they’re both getting better because of it. It’s pretty fun to watch.”

Garrison, now in year two of his two-year plan in Lexington, is the known commodity with legitimate SEC experience and continuity under Pope at Kentucky. His potential was obvious all season in his debut, coming up big in spurts, but struggling with consistency. Now, the hope is he can step into Amari Williams’ role as the go-to guy while Moreno takes his old spot as the young kid helping out where he can.

Is Garrison ready for that jump? He’s working hard enough to make it.

“We just scrimmaged. In our most recent scrimmage, Brandon Garrison — I talked about this a little bit, but he was the fastest guy up and down the floor every single possession,” Pope continued. “It was unbelievable what he’s doing. He’s actually taking more advantage of every single opportunity rep right now because he’s got himself in such great shape.”

But, again, the Wildcats have seen 35 games from him in Lexington and 67 overall including his time at Oklahoma State. There’s always room for growth and that’s the plan, but there is at least a baseline knowing what should be the bare minimum for Garrison as a junior.

Moreno is the newcomer looking to prove himself and make the most of his extended time on the floor with Quaintance out. Those returns? Very, very positive.

In fact, he’s shooting over 80 percent from the field in live action in practice, if that tells you anything.

“Malachi is making an incredible impact right now. He’s in the 80s field goal percentage. Playing five-on-five for us right now,” Pope told KSR. “Unbelievable on the glass. His ability to rim protect outside of his area. He’s one of those guys he does things on the floor, you shake your head and be like, ‘I didn’t know that’s the guy I recruited a year ago.’

“He’s been such an impactful freshman for us so far in training camp.”

His teammates feel the same way — no hyperbole there from Pope.

SEC Preseason Player of the Year Otega Oweh singled out Moreno as one of his biggest surprises to begin the 2025-26 season, saying his size and physicality is a true game-changer for the Wildcats.

“Malachi, he’s a beast down low,” he said. “He put on a lot of weight — like, muscle — when he got here. I feel like that’s what adds to it. He’s just been so physical, super efficient.”

Denzel Aberdeen, who knows what it takes to win at the highest level coming off a national championship with the Florida Gators, believes Moreno is ready to help Kentucky stack victories today — not just down the road.

“He’s a McDonald’s All-American and a very tall person, obviously (laughs),” Aberdeen added. “Malachi has been great for us this year, each and every day in practice, he’s bringing it. He’s competing. I love playing with him when we’re scrimmaging against each other.

“Malachi is very poised and big, brings it each and every day, competes each and he’s my best friend off the court, as well.”

Quaintance will (hopefully) be the star of the show when conference play rolls around, but until then, Kentucky has plenty of ammunition to work with in the frontcourt.