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Tyrese Maxey and Immanuel Quickley Look Back on Time at Kentucky: Cancelled Tournament, Cal Yelling, “Underrated” Staff

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© Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com, Nashville Tennessean via Imagn Content Services, LLC

On Tyrese Maxey’s very new and up-and-coming podcast, “Maxey on the Mic,” he brought on a special guest and former Wildcat teammate, Immanuel Quickley, taking a trip down memory lane on their time together on the 2019-2020 Kentucky Basketball team.

That Wildcats team was one of the more dominant teams in recent years. With a record of 25-6 (15-3 in SEC play), the Wildcats finished the year winning nine of their last ten games of the regular season en route to winning the SEC regular season title. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to all post-season tournament hopes.

On the podcast, Maxey and Quickley reminisced on how the group of guys from that team loved being around and playing with one another.

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Maxey went into detail on each player from that roster, talking about where they right now in their career and contributed in their own way. “We had so many different pieces and so many different dynamics on that team, That I feel like we really had a shot,” Maxey said.

Immanuel Quickley echoed the same but also gave praise to the coaching staff. “We had great players, but we had a great coaching staff as well. That was very underrated, how good our coaching staff was,” Quickley said. “We could relate to guys like Joel (Justice) and KP (Kenny Payne). KP would be on you in a game, then go take you to get something to eat after that night.”

It’s very unfortunate that a team as hot as anybody in the country during that time didn’t get a chance to see what they were made of come March Madness. The Cats finished 8th in the AP Poll and were set to compete in the SEC Tournament as the one seed, but the season was canceled the week of.

From that season, any team could have their own “what if” story on if their team was able to play in the tournament, but a guard-driven and streaky Kentucky team that was winning at the right time, would have just done fine, and if like Tyrese Maxey said, they would have had a real shot to win it all.

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Take a listen to that segment of the podcast below.

Men's Basketball

Otega Oweh Declares for NBA Draft, Maintains College Eligibility

Arguably the centerpiece of last year’s team, Otega Oweh has declared for the NBA Draft… but that doesn’t mean he’s officially gone.

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Otega Oweh declares for the NBA Draft whilst maintaining his college eligibility.
Chet White | UK Athletics

Few players have taken the Big Blue Nation by storm like Otega Oweh did with his arrival this past season. A lot was new in Lexington last year, but #00 stuck out for a number of reasons; namely, his infectious energy on the court and the high odds that he was going to put an opponent on a poster on any given night.

Now, Oweh has declared for the NBA Draft. He made the announcement on social media, calling Kentucky fans the “best fans in the world.”

While this may seem dire for folks keeping tabs on next year’s roster, that last line in Oweh’s announcement is crucial: “…while maintaining my NCAA eligibility.” Essentially, Otega’s time in Lexington is far from over, at least for the time being.

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Whether or not “Tegatron” returns to Rupp will likely depend on what he hears during the draft process, and where exactly he wants to land. In the modern college basketball landscape, it’s become common practice for players to “test the waters” in the draft, just to get an idea as to where they stand with the league, before returning to college for another year of development.

Take, for example, Jaxson Robinson just last season. Before his eventual transfer to Kentucky, Robinson declared for the draft out of BYU, maintaining his eligibility, before pulling from the process in order to spend his senior year at Kentucky. It happens all the time.

While that doesn’t necessarily set Oweh’s return in stone, it at least gives the Big Blue Nation to take a breather and keep calm, as his departure is far from official. Either way, #00 is a Lexington legend whose first go-around in Kentucky blue was as memorable as anyone’s could be. The “Oweh, Oweh, Oweh” chants will go on regardless.

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Men's Basketball

Four Star Forward Visiting Kentucky Amidst Recruitment Rumors

Mark Pope is looking to close out a strong sophomore effort in the transfer portal, and this freshman guard may be the final piece.

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Four star guard Braydon Hawthorne is on a visit to Kentucky.
Braydon Hawthorne | WVU Athletics

As the transfer portal trucks on (and the NCAA races to find ways to regulate it), Mark Pope is looking to tie a bow on his already highly-ranked 2025-26′ roster. The latest potential addition becomes in the form of a freshman who, after pulling his commitment from West Virginia, will be on an official visit to Kentucky today, Wednesday, April 16.

Braydon Hawthorne, the 6’8″ forward at hand, is a lengthy, scoring wing with high upside on the offensive end. His 7’3″ wingspan opens opportunities for development on the defensive end, too – he’s an investment opportunity of the highest order. On3 currently has him at 48th on their ranking of 2025 recruits.

In addition to Kentucky and West Virginia (where Hawthorne is from), schools such as Virginia Tech, Arizona State, Marquette, Dayton, Old Dominion, Mount St. Mary’s, and more have thrown their hats into the ring, although the general consensus seems to be that Kentucky has the strongest pull/interest in the prospect for the time being.

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Whether or not that actually means he’ll be in blue and white is unfortunately unsure – as that’s how the transfer portal operates – but an in-person visit is a good indicator of mutual interest. Plus, with Kentucky “losing out” on Lamar Wilkerson, who committed to Indiana, a scoring spot in the back court remains open… and Hawthorne is a compelling candidate to fill it.

While Wildcats fans wait patiently for a potential commitment, all eyes are on Coach Cody Fueger’s X account for a trademark “boom” post.

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Men's Basketball

Brandon Garrison Announces Return To Kentucky For The 2025-26 Season

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Chet White | UK Athletics

Brandon Garrison isn’t going anywhere. 

The 6-foot-10 forward will be returning to the Kentucky Wildcats for his junior season in the 2025-26 campaign. 

Garrison took to social media first, posting a story on his personal Instagram that showed a simple graphic reading the words “I’m back.”

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Speculation and rumors have swirled around the Oklahoma native all offseason, and with the addition of Andrija Jelavic, Big Blue Nation worried that Garrison would be hitting the portal sooner than later. 

Now, with his returning announcement public, Garrison will look to assert himself in the offseason as a dominant force that deserves the starting role.

Last season, he backed up Amari Williams, coming off of the bench and averaging 5.9 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game in just 17.3 minutes a night. 

It’s unclear if he’s guaranteed anything in regards to a starting spot. However, having played a year already in Mark Pope’s system, Garrison may get a nod for the role over one of the transfer pickups. 

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Pope and the coaching staff have been publicly confident in the development of “BG” and see him as a vocal leader on and off the court. 

With a full offseason ahead where he’ll be harnessing his skill set and bettering his game in any way possible, Kentucky fans will be glad that Garrison chose to stick around another year. 

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