Kentucky center Brandon Garrison – Mont Dawson, Kentucky Sports Radio
Kentucky center Brandon Garrison – Mont Dawson, Kentucky Sports Radio
Mark Pope received two massive pieces of news on Saturday related to his frontcourt rotation for next season.
It started with the commitment of Croatian big man Andrija Jelavic, a 6-foot-11 forward who averaged 10.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 assists per contest this past season suiting up for Mega Superbet in Serbia. A few hours later, Brandon Garrison announced his return for a junior season in 2025-26.
It feels particularly notable these two announcements came within hours of each — Garrison is clearly good with Jelavic, who will be a 21-year-old freshman, entering the mix. A little competition never hurt anyone. And in today’s age of college basketball, roster retention is among the most important offseason goals. That’s two important check marks for Pope and his staff.
With Garrison and Jelavic now locked in, Pope appears to have solidified the frontcourt for his second season as head coach. Joining those two will be potential top-five 2026 NBA Draft pick Jayden Quaintance, versatile forward Mouhamed Dioubate, and 7-foot freshman Malachi Moreno. As Pope continues to try and add one more shooter in the backcourt (Sam Houston’s Lamar Wilkerson chief among them), it certainly feels like the frontcourt is locked in — but we can’t fully count out the idea of him adding someone else between now and the fall.
Kentucky’s 2025-26 frontcourt (stats from 2024-25 season)
Brandon Garrison (Jr.) 6-10, 250 | Kentucky: 5.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 50.9 FG%, 30 3PT%
Mouhamed Dioubate (Jr.) 6-7, 215 | Alabama: 7.2 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.1 APG, 61.7 FG%, 46.2 3PT%
Jayden Quaintance (So.) 6-10, 225 | Arizona State: 9.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.6 BPG, 1.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 52.5 FG%, 18.8 3PT%
Malachi Moreno (Fr.) 7-0, 210 | Great Crossin HS: 21.5 PPG, 14.9 RPG, 3.5 BPG, 3.4 APG, 72.1 FG%, 27.3 3PT%
Andrija Jelavic (Fr.) 6-11, 225 | Mega Superbet: 10.8 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.0 SPG, 50.3 FG%, 32.3 3PT%
Four of these five will expect to fill a meaningful role in 2025-26, Moreno being the odd man out as a true freshman. If we wanted to stretch the position rules, we could count 6-foot-8 Kam Williams and 6-foot-5 Trent Noah as forwards, but their skill sets will keep them mostly on the perimeter.
Who will take over as the starters at power forward and center in the season-opener? It’s almost impossible to tell this early in the offseason — and possibly a moot point with the way Pope divvies up his minutes — but we might as well take a stab at it.
Quaintance’s ACL injury complicates his potential as a day-one starter. He underwent surgery in the middle of March and has been open about being ready for the first game of the regular season, but it’s best to be cautiously optimistic with an injury as serious as that one.
However, once he is fully healthy and ready to play, he could — and should, if Kentucky wants to reach its ceiling — eventually play his way into 20-plus minutes per game.
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