One of the biggest storylines in college basketball this season will be the return of Kentucky center Jayden Quaintance.

Not only when he returns for the Wildcats but what he looks like when he does coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL in March.

For that reason, CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein has identified junior big man Brandon Garrison as UK’s most important player coming into this season.

“Unequivocally right now, given the health of Jayden Quaintance, the most important player for the Wildcats during the preseason is going to be Brandon Garrison,” Rothstein said.

“We had Mark Pope a couple of months ago on this podcast and when I asked him which returning player will make the biggest jump for Kentucky in 25-26, he answered right away and said Brandon Garrison. He said because my system is so read-based, players are always infinitely better in their second season than their first season. That would relate to Brandon Garrison, a player Kentucky is going to need to be elite especially early in the schedule.”

That schedule includes exhibition games vs. Purdue and Georgetown at Rupp Arena as well as marquee non-conference matchups vs. Louisville (Nov. 11), Michigan State in the Champions Classic (Nov. 18), North Carolina in the ACC/SEC Challenge (Dec. 2), Gonzaga in Nashville (Dec. 5), Indiana (Dec. 13) and St. John’s in the CBS Sports Classic (Dec. 20).

“Jayden Quaintance, as of a couple weeks ago, was still not cleared for contact activity. If he wasn’t cleared for contact activity, I think it’s very, very unrealistic to expect Jayden Quaintance to be ready and functioning at the start of the 2025-26 season and maybe not functioning until SEC play,” Rothstein said. “You think about what lies ahead for Kentucky in the non-conference portion of the schedule. In order for Kentucky, a program that is always operating with the mindset of being a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, to have a chance to win the lion’s share of those games, you are going to need Brandon Garrison to be producing and producing at a high level at the five spot in those games.”

As a sophomore last season, Garrison averaged 5.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while shooting 50.9% from the floor and 30% from 3-point range, making 12 of 40 attempts from beyond the arc, the first 12 triples of his collegiate career in 35 games off the bench in helping Kentucky to a 24-12 mark and its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2019.

Notable performances from Garrison included 13 points to go along with six rebounds, two assists and two steals in Kentucky’s first round NCAA Tournament win over Troy; a season-high 15 points and four assists in a Senior Night win over LSU; 12 points, four blocks and three steals in a win at Oklahoma; 10 points and a season-high nine rebounds in a win over No. 7 Gonzaga in Seattle; and eight points, four rebounds and two assists in a win over No. 6 Duke in the Champions Classic.

In August, Pope praised Garrison’s work ethic this offseason.

“I thought his work ethic continued to grow throughout the course of the summer, especially the past 3-4 weeks,” Pope said. “He really dialed in and started to understand the next step doesn’t come natural, you gotta go take it. So, it’s been fun to watch him grow that way.”

In Year 2 under Pope, Garrison will have big shoes to fill stepping in for Amari Williams, who last season became just the third player in school history to record 300+ rebounds and 100+ assists. He also recorded just the fourth triple-double in school history with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 98-84 loss at No. 25 Ole Miss on Feb. 4.

Pope says Garrison is on the right track to pick up right were Williams left off.

“He was our leading assist-to-turnover guy on the entire team this summer in the eight weeks,” Pope said. “Right at a 2-1 assist-to-turnover ratio so it’s been fun to see him grow that way in terms of his ball security from where he came in last summer. It’s been really incredible.”

In addition to Garrison, Kentucky’s frontcourt also includes Alabama transfer Mouhamed Dioubate, Croatian forward Andrija Jelavić, and freshman 7-footer Malachi Moreno.