Junior Brandon Garrison had fun with UK campers this summer but assistant coach Mikhail McClean expects the junior to make big improvements for the Cats this season. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Amari Williams went from a player known primarily for his defense when he transferred from Drexel to Kentucky last season to a “point center” who often initiated UK’s offense after injuries helped decimate coach Mark Pope’s backcourt at times.
With Williams now hoping to keep a spot with the Boston Celtics, Kentucky has to find a new center.
Kentucky assistant coach Mikhail McClean says the easy and somewhat obvious answer is Arizona State transfer Jayden Quaintance. He’s already being projected as a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft even though he’s coming off a knee injury and no one is exactly sure when he’ll be ready for game action.
“He’s new to our system and we can just kind of teach him the way we play that can help him be effective and efficient at the next level while helping us now,” McClean said. “But Brandon Garrison is going on year two with us and it’s always been a two-year plan with us for his projections.
“The best thing he got to do was have a front seat last year and learn from Amari every single day and get better. I think Brandon Garrison is going to have a really big jump and is the guy I’m really excited to work with. He still has a huge upside ”
McClean is excited about working with 7-foot freshman Malachi Moreno, Kentucky’s 2025 Mr. Basketball.
“His size, his potential, of all the things he’s good at, a whole bunch of stuff we want him to be great at,” McLean said when asked what excites him about Moreno. “We want him to be great at one or two things, but he’s good at everything. He could rebound, he could defend. He’s developing a jump shot.
“He played really well for USA Basketball in the summer. So it’s just a matter of taking the momentum from the high school season to USA this summer into this season and him learning from Brandon and Jayden. Brandon’s the old guy of the group but he can teach and help Malachi a lot.”
That mentorship/leadership is something Pope stressed to Garrison that helped convince him to return to UK for another season.
“We talked about being a leader and trying to lead this team this year. He also told me to be in the best condition I could be,” Garrison said. “Also he obviously wants me to improve my overall game and take the extra steps to do that. That’s all he’s been preaching to me this whole off season.”
3 Responses
If the guys from last year improve like Chandler, Garrison, Noah and Oweh. We will be unstoppable. Our transfers are incredible. We will be extremely deep and talented across the board. I think Chandler and Noah show the most improvement with Garrison also showing major improvement.
This team could really be unstoppable if they all live up to their talent levels and expectations. I am not totally onboard with the Garrison train yet bc there were some times last yr when it was thought and expected that he was capable of taking over the games, and he seemed to shy away from those expectations. There should be no questions about his talent and physical abilities. The real question will be does he really want to be "the guy".
So far, most of the talk has been about Quaintance. Quaintance is a unique talent, but he is not ready to play. Garrison is primed to make a huge leap in his level of play this season. Quaintance's delayed arrival will give Garrison the stage to orchestrate that leap.
Jelavic will be another stud who will benefit from Quaintance's absence. This kid has been playing with pros. He has to catch up on learning Pope's system, but he will be a force to deal with on the floor. Moreno will also get valuable PT during Quaintance's absence. Our frontcourt will be a force before Quaintance arrives. It will be phenomenal with Quaintance if the chemistry doesn't take a hit.
We will have two stars playing at the 4 and 5 spots by the time Quaintance is ready to take the floor, whenever that will be. There is no need to rush that though. Let him get back to full strength conditioning wise. Quaintance will add to our defense and rebounding, which will already be pretty good. He might take away from our offensive output as that is the last thing a kid gets back after a long absence from the game.
Lowe's game is going to flourish in Pope's system on Pope's team. Oweh's game can't get too much better unless he gets better at making 3s. Noah is primed to take a big leap but he will be playing behind Oweh. Dioubate will start at the 3 which will improve our defense and rebounding, but when Noah and Williams are on the floor our 3 point shooting will explode. Johnson and Hawthorne are very talented freshmen, but they have more talented upperclassmen playing ahead of them. Chandler will also be a victim of our depth at the point.
Kentucky is the deepest team in America this season. When Quaintance takes the floor, they will be the most dangerous team in the country. By tourney time, they will be the most feared team in the country. Barring a number of severe injuries, this team is Final 4 good. Depending on how the chemistry comes together, we could be the favorite to win it all! Go CATS!!!