Brandon Garrison prepares for second half of Mark Pope's two-year plan at Kentucky

Brandon Garrison could have been one of the thousands of players to enter the transfer portal this offseason, leaving Kentucky for a massive payday or a starring role elsewhere. You better believe other schools tried putting a bug in his ear about the grass being greener on the other side — it happens everywhere.

Instead, the rising junior decided to see the process through in Lexington, returning for year two in blue and white under Mark Pope. He came in as Amari Williams‘ backup, learning the ropes from one of the most dominant bigs in the SEC in hopes of taking over that spot following his departure, building upon what worked as a sophomore. Now, his time has come to turn that potential into consistent production.

“Excited for this upcoming year, excited to return and I’m ready for the fans to show love again,” Garrison said in a sitdown interview with KSR on Thursday. “I’ll say, it starts with Coach Pope, just his loyalty and his two-year plan that he talked about with me. When he first came out to my house for his visit, we talked about a two-year plan — just not rushing the process, I’d say.

“Knowing who I’m playing with, bringing in Amari. He told me the process with him and how I’m gonna get better with him, just in practice and overall. Since he first started recruiting me, that’s the first thing he brought up to me.”

He’ll be a 1A and 1B complementary fit next to Jayden Quaintance while showing rookie center Malachi Moreno the ropes just as Williams did for him. Croatian forward Andrija Jelavic and Alabama transfer Mo Dioubate will fill in the gaps at the four, building one of the deepest and most talented frontcourts in college basketball next season.

Garrison will be a big piece to that puzzle, and he’s excited to get to know and work with them all.

“I don’t know them all yet, so I’m gonna have to reach out to them,” he said. “… That’s one of the things Coach Pope talked to me about, just having more guys in practice to go against — because we didn’t have that last year. Having that this year, it’ll make all of us better.”

One thing that will be asked of him, picking up where Williams left off? Leadership. He’s gonna have to grow up on the fly, starting as the playful newcomer last year and emerging as the go-to vet next.

They’ll lean on him just as he leaned on No. 22 in their first season together in Lexington.

“First, he just brought up that I have to go get that leadership role,” Garrison said. “Just the group of guys that he’s bringing in, teaching them how things run around here and how the offense works — all of the little things like that. We sat down and talked about all of it. I’m excited to step into that role.”

Another draw? Big Blue Nation and the unwavering fan support, something you can’t find just anywhere. That helped pull him back for his junior campaign as a Wildcat.

“What I first heard was the pitch that all of the games are sold out, Kentucky fans ask for pictures everywhere you go,” Garrison said. “… They’re diehard fans out here and you have to take advantage of it. It’s just special. It just makes you want to get out there more and just get excited for the game. I came from a crowd where it wasn’t like that and some games you had to create your own energy. Having the stands packed out, they bring the energy for you.”

Time to see year two of that two-year plan for Garrison in Lexington — and he’s certainly excited for it.