STILLWATER, Okla. — Brandon Garrison came to Oklahoma State as a Top 40 prospect and one of the best signees in program history.
The Oklahoma City native chose the Cowboys over offers from Arkansas, Houston, Kansas and Oklahoma, among plenty of other schools. In his first Big 12 game, he had 20 points and eight rebounds in an overtime loss to No. 18 Baylor.
“My first year here in Stillwater, I feel like I was pushed and I learned a lot,” Garrison said in a tweet, confirming portal reports. “I still have a lot of work to do to get better, and I’m looking forward to the work that it takes to put myself in a position to achieve my dreams of becoming a professional basketball player. I’m thankful to all the fans of Oklahoma State for supporting me and my teammates even though this year didn’t go as planned. With that being said, and because of the recent coaching change, I believe it’s in my best interest to enter the transfer portal to explore what all the options are available to me.”
In his first season in Stillwater, Garrison averaged 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. He scored in double figures in 10 of his 32 games played. Garrison had a double-double against South Carolina State in December.
The 6-foot-11 center had a strong freshman season, starting 29 games, and national analysts took notice. As of Monday afternoon, he is rated as the No. 1 transfer prospect in the NCAA basketball transfer portal by 247Sports.
“Brandon Garrison, the Oklahoma State freshman, to me is the biggest name in the portal so far and is going to remain one of the biggest big man prospects in there,” 247Sports National Basketball Director Eric Bossi said. “He had a little bit of a slow start at Oklahoma State and didn’t always have the best stats out there. I think he only ended up averaging 7.5 points and five rebounds, but if you watch this kid play, he can GO. He can get things done on both ends of the floor. He has great ability as a rim protector.”
If Garrison is done at Oklahoma State, his final game as a Cowboy was a 10-point, 3-rebound, 5-block outing in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament against UCF.
Now he’s expected to be a big-time contributor and eventually play in the NBA, Bossi says.
“He’s a guy who had a couple games during Big 12 play where you saw flashes of ‘Okay, this guy can not only help out a high level team win, but is a guy who is squarely going to be on an NBA radar sooner than later,’” Bossi said. “There’s going to be a big battle for him. I would expect Kansas and Oklahoma to be two names to monitor immediately on that one.”