Mark Pope wants to see more leadership from Brandon Garrison in year two at Kentucky

You never truly knew what you were going to see out of Brandon Garrison on any given night last season. And that’s not a negative shot by any means — it’s part of what made him such an intriguing player. The skills and tools are clearly all there, but it was fair to say there was still some growing up to do for the sophomore big man.

And that’s what head coach Mark Pope wants to see out of Garrison more than anything else this offseason. During that process, the development of his game should naturally come with a more mature version of Garrison, who is about to enter his junior season and second year with the Wildcats.

The rest of Garrison’s future teammates haven’t even arrived for summer workouts yet, but Pope has already begun to see some of that personal growth since last season came to an end.

“He needs to be a leader,” Pope said Tuesday when asked what he expects out of the Oklahoma native in 2025-26. “I’m really proud of him, how he’s approached this offseason. He’s been really hungry. He’s been working really hard, and his job now as a returning player is to come teach all the other guys — whether they’re more senior than him or not, he’s one of our few returning guys that knows what we do, knows how we do it, knows the expectation, knows the standard.”

“It was really fun in the last month of the season to see him start to take on some leadership role, even with the veteran-laden team that we had last year,” Pope added. “You started to hear his voice more. You started to feel his intensity a little bit more. He’s changed, like he’s grown. It’s been awesome.”

Garrison brings a layer of versatility to the hardwood — on both ends of the floor — that every team in the country would be willing to go after. From his freshman season at Oklahoma State to his sophomore campaign at Kentucky, he expanded his game beyond the three-point arc and improved his decision-making abilities. But there were more games where he finished with two points or fewer (nine) compared to ones in double-figures (seven).

The consistency wasn’t always there; Garrison will use this offseason to make sure it is by the fall and beyond.

As one of the few returning pieces, there will be some added pressure on Garrison’s shoulders. He’ll be competing for minutes in a frontcourt that is loaded with depth and talent. Doing that while also presenting himself as a locker room leader is Pope’s challenge to him. So far, so good. After Amari Williams took Garrison under his wing last season, Garrison is already beginning to pay it forward to the next group of Wildcats — even if some of them are older than he is.

“We had four new coming players on official visits altogether; it was a really fun weekend,” Pope said, referring to when four incoming transfers came to check out Lexington last month. “And we had the guys in my house for a long breakfast and kind of hang out. And Brandon Garrison came, and it was really fun to watch him holding court with those four guys. He kind of went out of his way to come over and then sit with those guys and kind of talk to them about what it is and what it’s like and what it requires.

“And they think of Brandon Garrison as being a big brother right now, super cool, because he’ll be the first to tell you that Amari Williams was a life-changing mentor for him, and he’s excited about moving into that position where he gets to help some other guys come along, and he’s going to be really good.”

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