Year two Brandon Garrison has not been the player Kentucky needs

In big moments this season, Brandon Garrison has not been the player that Kentucky needs to be successful.

Losing to Louisville and Michigan State in rough fashion does not fall solely on Garrison; let’s start there. There are myriad reasons why Kentucky has struggled against its two ranked opponents in 2025-26. Mark Pope has not been good enough. Otega Oweh has not been the Preseason SEC Player of the Year. There is no clear identity with this group. But the 6-foot-10 Garrison, who is now in year two at UK after spending his freshman season at Oklahoma State, did not do his team any favors with his play against the Cardinals and Spartans.

We can start with the “good” on paper. Garrison was at least consistent in wins over the lesser teams: eight points (4-6 FG) and five rebounds against Nicholls, 12 points (4-4 FG), four rebounds, and four assists against Valparaiso, and six points (3-3 FG) and five rebounds against Eastern Illinois. But Kentucky, as a team, dominated those games. Eastern Illinois didn’t have anyone over 6-foot-8. When the staff has needed Garrison to step up on the big stage, he’s been mostly a non-factor.

Garrison went for three points and rebounds in 23 minutes during the loss to Louisville. He looked even more lost against Michigan State, going for two points and four rebounds in 20 minutes. With the game already out of reach against the Spartans, Pope benched him for the final 6:10 of the contest, something that probably should have happened sooner. From the opening segment, Garrison did not look like someone fully involved in the action.

A now-viral clip of Garrison lazily allowing two offensive rebounds on the same possession (not even four minutes into the game) is doing him no favors. Another shot of him leaving a Michigan State player wide-open under the basket (just a minute before he was pulled for the final time) is making the rounds, too. These are just small snippets that highlight the bad out of context, but they paint a larger, more alarming picture.

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— Michael Beard (@AllMikedUp_) November 19, 2025

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— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) November 19, 2025

Pope mentioned multiple times during the offseason that players who get to year two in his system take a leap with their game. That’s actually been the case so far with Collin Chandler, who has played quite well to start the season, but it can’t be said for the likes of Garrison, Oweh, and Trent Noah. The difference, however, is that Garrison is competing for minutes with another Kentucky center who might already be the better option right now.

Freshman Malachi Moreno, who is not without his own flaws, has been objectively more consistent than Garrison so far this season. Against Michigan State, Moreno added nine points, four rebounds, and three assists in 20 minutes. He was a -1 in the box score. Meanwhile, Garrison was a -16 in his 20 minutes against the Spartans. Moreno also had eight points and five rebounds against Louisville in six fewer minutes than Garrison.

Pope made an investment in Garrison for the 2025-26 season in hopes that he would expand his game and develop into a no-doubt starting-caliber SEC player. At least through five games, that hasn’t happened. If anything, his game has regressed. And the more he continues to play at this level, while Moreno continues to shine coming off the bench, the more his playing time will come into question.

Again, Kentucky’s early-season shortcomings do not fall only on Garrison. There are issues up and down with this group right now. But Garrison has not stepped up when his team needs him the most. 6-foot-9 big man Jayden Quaintance, a projected lottery pick, will ideally return from his ACL rehab at some point this season. Pope can’t play Quaintance, Moreno, and Garrison the minutes they all want — someone will have to get squeezed at the five spot.

And right now, that someone would be Brandon Garrison. But unless it all starts to click, Pope might be forced to adjust Garrison’s minutes well before Quaintance makes his way into the fold.