We are officially four days out from the 2026 NCAA Division I men’s basketball transfer portal opening, and with that, another wave of transfer portal announcements has hit the Bluegrass.

One of whom was a significant part of Pope’s second-year team, and a two-year member of the Wildcats in Brandon Garrison.

Garrison played his first collegiate season only an hour drive away from his hometown in Oklahoma City, committing to the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

During the 2023–24 season at Oklahoma State, he appeared in 32 games with 29 starts, averaging 22.6 minutes per contest.

He averaged 7.5 points per game while shooting 57.2% from the field.

On the glass, he averaged 5.3 rebounds per game, including 1.3 offensive and 3.9 defensive boards, while also contributing 1.5 assists per game.

Defensively, he averaged 1.5 blocks and 0.8 steals per game.

After a strong freshman year, Garrison became one of the 10 transfers to join Mark Pope in his first season as Kentucky’s head coach.

In his first season as a Wildcat, he appeared in 35 games, averaging around 17 minutes per contest.

He averaged 5.9 points while shooting 50.9% from the field, while going 30.0% from the three, putting his first shots from beyond the arc in his collegiate career.

He contributed 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per contest, while adding 0.6 blocks and 0.9 steals per game.

Garrison put up multiple breakout performances throughout the season, including his season-high 15-point, four-assist, three-steal outing against LSU.

It would be the first of seven double-digit scoring outings, one of which being a crucial part in Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament first-round victory over Troy, where he put up 13 points and six rebounds.

With a successful first year in the blue and white and being one of the only returning members for the 2025-26 season, Garrison entered the year with higher expectations, especially on the defensive front.

Through a season filled with ups and downs, he found his best moments in monster blocks, slam dunks, but most notably, his role off the court as a father.

Unfortunately, the season did not start off on the highest note, and throughout the entirety of the season, it remained pretty inconsistent.

His first eye-opening performance came against Indiana, where he played 21 minutes and finished with six points, five rebounds and two assists.

Garrison was praised for the energy and grit he brought to the matchup, especially in the second half, giving BBN another flash of the potential he had for the season.

His next breakout performance would come almost two months later, facing his former rival in Oklahoma, putting up a monster 20 points while shooting 87% from the field, 11 rebounds and three assists.

He was a key player in Kentucky’s victory over LSU in the first round of the 2026 SEC Tournament, contributing 17 points while totaling five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

He also put up two 3-pointers in that game alone, tying the total amount of 3-pointers he put up through the regular season.

Garrison introduced his son, Akarii, to BBN during March Madness, having the crowd join him in singing “Happy Birthday” to his two-year-old.

Throughout the season, Akarii became a large part of Garrison’s identity, joining him in multiple press conferences, post game appearances and becoming a key part of his motivation to play at a high level.

On multiple occasions, Garrison would note he was always playing for something bigger than himself, and the way fatherhood has changed him for the better.

He even appeared in a CBS Sports special segment, detailing how “Fatherhood Transformed his Game.”

With that, Garrison found himself in the hearts of basketball fans across the country for his purpose off the court.

He ended the season averaging 16.2 minutes per contest, totaling 4.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 55.6% from the field, along with 1.1 assists per game.

He also contributed defensively with 0.8 blocks and 0.5 steals per game.