Mark Pope believes Brandon Garrison will be a 'big-time' shooter: 'He's got all the ingredients.'

Brandon Garrison didn’t attempt a single three-pointer during his freshman season at Oklahoma State. The vast majority of his scoring came around the paint or right at the rim. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for a talented seven-footer like Garrison, but he’s more than just a non-shooting center.

Now a sophomore at Kentucky, we’ve seen the “more” first-hand. Despite averaging fewer minutes this season compared to last, his assist numbers jumped from 1.5 per game in 2023-24 to 2.5 per game (with fewer turnovers) in 2024-25. His playmaking at the top of the key (along with Amari Williams‘) has been critical to the success of Mark Pope‘s third-ranked offense.

“I’ve been really impressed with what BG turns down,” Pope said during his Thursday press conference. “Like his turn-down decision-making is unbelievable. He loves to track the late pass, he loves it. He fell in love with it early in the season, so he loves to track it.

“Looking back at the Alabama game, I wish I had play-called the middle of the lane more, I wish I’d spent way more time high ballscreen stuff. We were getting good action with all of our flow and stack action. I do think there was space, the way they chose to guard, to kind of manipulate the middle of the floor a little bit better. I thought BG was really good at that. I thought he was really good as a roller.”

Playmaking aside, there’s even more to Garrison’s game that we’re only just now beginning to see: the aforementioned three-point shooting. He’s up to 15 shots from deep through 17 games played this season — just under one attempt per contest. Garrison has made five of them for a 33.3 percent clip, which is a solid number — but admittedly still not great — for someone his size.

.@brandonGarriso from DEEP and we LEAD.

📺 – ESPN pic.twitter.com/b59jeKktzP

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 18, 2025

It’s been a process for Garrison’s three-point shooting confidence. He missed his first five of the season. It wasn’t until Kentucky’s big neutral site win over Gonzaga in his eighth game that he finally knocked one down. Garrison didn’t take another three-pointer for nearly a month after that though. But something must have changed right before the turn of the new year.

Over the last six games (five against SEC opponents), Garrison is 4-8 from deep.

“Ton of credit to (Garrison), ton of credit to (assistant) Mikhail McLean, who’s working with him every day,” Pope added. “He’s going to be a big-time shooter. I’m telling you, it’s in his future. I think we felt that way since the summer. He’s got a poise and a presentness about him, fearlessness about him when he shoots the ball. And he’s got really terrific touch, he gets great rotation, he’s patient enough to make sure that his balance is solid every single time. He’s got all the ingredients.”

From a purely technical standpoint, Garrison’s shooting form sure is smooth and pretty. And since he’s still mostly unproven as an outside shooter, opposing teams continue to lay off him a bit when he gets open for a clean look. Garrison’s triples usually come around the top of the key. If he can begin to nail that shot consistently throughout SEC play, it should open up even more offensive opportunities for him.

“I’ve seen these guys a ton, that are kind of in this big space, it just hasn’t been a part of their game, but they’re built to do it,” Pope said. “And he’s going to shoot the ball better and better and better and better, but he’s got a real future. Sometime down the road, five years from now, we’re going to look at him in the league, and he’s going to be like Big Shot Bob.

“He’s been one of those guys that just makes shots, and he’s going to be known as that and that’s going to be the scout, and I hope that starts on Saturday. Maybe it’ll be a couple weeks. But he’s in progress of going there, and so it’s going to be fun to see. It’s going to be fun to watch, because he is just a no-brainer, man, that dude is going to make shots as he grows. It’s pretty fun.”

Garrison still has plenty of room to grow his game, especially with his three-point shot, but that’s also what makes him such a tantalizing prospect.

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