Oklahoma State Center Brandon Garrison Reportedly Enters Transfer Portal

TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER

The transfer portal opened Monday for college basketball players, and it did so in about the worst way possible for Oklahoma State fans.

Brandon Garrison has entered the portal, according to multiple reports. A McDonald’s All-American out of Del City, Garrison averaged 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks a game.

“First and foremost, I want to thank Coach Mike and the rest of the coaches for giving me the opportunity to play at the school that I grew up loving,” Garrison said in a Twitter post. “My first year here in Stillwater, I feel like I was pushed and I learned a lot. 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. Thanks to everyone who supported me so far and I look forward to seeing what’s next.”

Garrison is the first to have reportedly hit the portal but probably won’t be the last. Oklahoma State fired coach Mike Boynton on Thursday. With the program starting its coaching search, it would not be too surprising to see a few more names join Garrison in the portal.

Garrison was a top-40 player in the 2023 recruiting class, choosing OSU over offers from Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Texas and others. Garrison became the 10th McDonald’s All-American to play at Oklahoma State, the first OSU got out of the high school ranks since Cade Cunningham.

Garrison made 29 starts as a freshman and scored in double figures 10 times. He scored 20 or more points in three games, putting up a career-high 21 in OSU’s Big 12 win against BYU. He had one double-double as a freshman, an 11-point, 10-rebound performance against South Carolina State.

Before his firing, Boynton warned of OSU being behind a lot of the Big 12 in terms of NIL and particularly how it pertains to roster retention. No matter who the Cowboys’ next coach is, NIL will likely also need to take a step forward for OSU to be successful on the hardwood.

With Garrison in the portal, OSU now has five available scholarships to use if everyone else who can return did return — those players being:

Javon Small
Eric Dailey Jr.
Quion Williams
Bryce Thompson
Jamyron Keller
Justin McBride
Connor Dow
Jeremiah Johnson (signee)

But, with the portal just now opening, that number will likely fluctuate over the coming days and weeks.