Decision day for No. 1 OU transfer target, Brandon Garrison

Eventually, all the center dominoes in the transfer portal were going to have to fall, and OU would know where it stands.

That day is here.

Former Oklahoma State center Brandon Garrison posted on Instagram that he is set to announce his decision Tuesday afternoon. If you follow the clock? That would be 12:10 p.m., to be exact.

You cannot overstate how important of a victory this could be for OU head coach Porter Moser. The Sooners have gone as all-in as humanly possible in trying to keep Garrison home.

Garrison was a star at Del City (Okla.) High, but he went to Stillwater instead of Norman. This was the second chance for the Sooners to get it right.

But it’s not a slam dunk. It’s really anything but that. OU gave its best effort nearly three weeks ago and has simply had to ride out the storm.

We’re here, though.

A look at some of the other schools involved in Garrison’s transfer recruitment.

Contenders

OU

There’s a belief that maybe OU didn’t do enough to get Garrison coming out of high school. That’s not the case this time around. Not at all. The OU official visit, from all reports, was sensational. It has really been an all of nothing approach for Moser with Garrison. The Sooners have not had another center in Norman this entire portal window. That’s 45 days, one center. Did all of that work finally pay off? The Sooners have slowly built the other portal pieces with three commitments in the last seven days. Has that been enough to show Garrison the vision for OU as it goes to the SEC?

OSU

A strong thought throughout most of this month was Garrison returning to the Cowboys. Coaching changes played out, reassess and head back to Stillwater. But that momentum has died down in the last week or 10 days. It definitely took a blow when Moussa Cisse committed to OSU once again. Cisse was a Cowboy from 2021-23 and seems to be returning. It’s hard to see Cisse and Garrison both playing with the same team.

Texas

OU makes the most sense, in terms of being the local kid staying home. But Texas? The Longhorns might be the most prepared to make a real run next season. Garrison took the visit to Austin a week after OU, and it felt OK. Again, UT has a lot of pieces in play for Garrison to be the final one. The question might be is it too far away from home?

Kentucky

The Monday night shocker. Garrison never visited Kentucky. But all the smoke Monday evening is about Garrison heading toward the Wildcats. Head coach Mark Pope has been building a roster on the fly. And he seems to be doing pretty well with the bigs. Garrison isn’t a must-have, but it would be one heck of a recruiting victory for Pope to start out at UK.

Arkansas

The final visit was to Fayetteville during the last couple of days. John Calipari running the show, would that be enough to sway things? Arkansas is as close to home as Garrison can get, too, if you’re looking to keep him local but not in the state. The momentum for the Hogs went out the door because it received the big-time commitment from former Tennessee star Jonas Aidoo. The belief all along is that Garrison is a No. 1 option. Not 1a. or 1b., just No. 1.

This would be the biggest portal victory in Moser’s tenure at OU. The transfer portal window has been crazy for the Sooners. Not a lot of visitors. A lot of players with local ties not picking the Sooners. But all of that could go away with one decision.

Is Garrison a Sooner? We’ll find out Tuesday.

OU portal outlook

The Sooners worked the portal well last season, earning the 20 wins in the regular season for the first time in eight years. It just turned out to be not enough, being named the dreaded First Team Out of the NCAA Tournament.

So it’s back to the transfer portal. OU has had four players transfer out (Otega Oweh, John Hugley, Milos Uzan, Javian McCollum), meaning five open scholarships initially remained. Now it’s two after Kobe Elvis and Jadon Jones and Brycen Goodine have come into the fold.

Forward Jalon Moore also announced his intention to go through the NBA Draft process, but he will keep his NCAA eligibility with OU. Moore could absolutely return to the Sooners. Sources believe Moore is expected to be the OU leader in 2024-25.

“There’s gonna be no less acceleration on our efforts for Oklahoma basketball,” said Moser last month. “We’ve got competitors. My staff, myself. Faith, family, friends, togetherness, this awesome University of Oklahoma. The outpouring of people. I’ll say this. My good friend that I’ve really developed a great friendship in the last three years and a friend to everybody here, Bob Stoops. He uses the term OUDNA a lot. We’ve talked about it.

“The OUDNA just doesn’t talk about at the top of the hill. The OUDNA is really strong as you’re climbing the hill. That’s where this staff, these players, this program is going to rely on that OUDNA to fight through this adversity. That OUDNA never has to be more relevant – it’s almost more important on the way up than it is at the top. That’s what we’re going to lean on moving forward.”

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