Brandon Garrison excited for Otega Oweh’s return “He’s got a whole ‘nother level he can reach.”
Members of the Big Blue Nation aren’t the only ones ready to see a second year of Otega Oweh in the blue and white.
Oweh is one of four returning pieces from last season’s Kentucky team, which was the first under new head coach Mark Pope. The former Oklahoma transfer quickly turned into a star as a junior, leading the Wildcats in scoring (16.2 PPG) while making the All-SEC Second Team along the way. After going through the NBA Draft process, Oweh elected to play one more season of college basketball, where he’ll be a likely preseason All-American candidate in Lexington.
Joining Oweh as a holdover from last season is junior center Brandon Garrison, who many are hoping to see take a significant leap in his development after a productive, but up-and-down, sophomore campaign in 2024-25. For a while, Garrison was left in the dark on whether or not Oweh would stick in the NBA Draft or make his way back to UK. But once he received the good news, his excitement for what’s in store instantly grew.
“We’ve been talking all summer and stuff. He been keeping it just to him and his family,” Garrison, who said Oweh informed him of the decision a couple of days before the announcement, told reporters Tuesday. “But I was just hoping he came back obviously, but if he didn’t, then I was gonna be proud of him either way. When he told me he was coming back, I was super excited. We was texting about it. Just excited to be able to play another year with him.”
It’s never a bad thing when the leading scorer sticks around, even more so when Pope is still trying to establish some continuity with his rosters. But last season’s team was littered with seniors and fifth-year veterans — guys who had all played upward of 100 college basketball games before even committing to Kentucky last offseason.
Leadership will look a bit different in 2025-26 than it did last season.
In fact, Oweh will be one of only two scholarship seniors on next season’s roster, along with Florida transfer Denzel Aberdeen. Otherwise, the rotation will also consist of four juniors, four sophomores, and four freshmen. That puts more responsibility on the shoulders of players such as Oweh and Garrison, who are not only older guys but also have a year of experience in Pope’s system.
Garrison says he plans to take on a larger role in that regard, but added he expects to see the same thing out of Oweh. Last season, Oweh mostly led by example, but this season, he’ll be looked to as a voice of the team more often.
“His daily life, just being consistent,” Garrison said when asked what Oweh brings to the table in terms of leadership. “He is kinda quiet, but when we get on the court, he gets to talking a lot… I feel like he’ll be a great leader for this team this year…
“He’s got a whole ‘nother level he can reach.”
What does that level look like exactly for Oweh? If all goes according to plan, a souped-up version of his junior campaign — one who can make a real run at being an All-American and/or the SEC Player of the Year, and ideally, a future first-round pick. That’s why going through the NBA Draft process this offseason was so important: to figure out what needs to happen for that level to be hit.
“First thing (Oweh) said was the (draft) workouts was one of the hardest things you have to do,” Garrison said. “You know, just being in shape was the biggest part, because the workouts, he told me they put him through all the testing they had to do, and just being mentally prepared, because it’s one of the top jobs out there, so it’s gonna be hard to get into it.”
With plenty of feedback to sift through, Oweh has a much better grasp of what it’s going to take to make it in the NBA. He’ll continue to share those lessons with Garrison and the rest of his teammates throughout the summer and into the season
