KU’s senior leader has spent most of the 1,084 days since that 2018 night in San Antonio, Texas, fighting to get back to that spot.

“Oh yeah,” Garrett said this week. “Knowing how great that felt, knowing all the love and the support that we had going down there and being in a Final Four, that’s definitely a feeling I want to have again.”

As the third-seeded Jayhawks prepare to kick off what could be the final NCAA Tournament run of Garrett’s career — 12:15 p.m. Saturday against No. 14 seed Eastern Washington on TBS — the KU senior is soaking up every second and not leaving anything to chance.

There have been plenty of big wins, memorable moments and individual accomplishments for Garrett in the days since that Final Four loss to Villanova. But now that he’s a senior and it’s his team that he’s leading into the Big Dance, Garrett is doing his part to make sure his teammates are all looking at the opportunity the same way he does.

Nick Krug

“I’m just making sure we stay together, making sure that we stay in focus and know what our goal is,” Garrett said.

At Kansas, the postseason goal never really changes. Whether you’re a first-year walk-on or the face of the program in your fourth or fifth season, the push to hang another banner inside Allen Fieldhouse is a carrot you start chasing on Day 1. So, Garrett knew the fact that he got to make a deep run during his first season with the program was something special.

Kansas coach Bill Self made sure of that.

“When you’re going through any type of good run, you want them to be able to actually enjoy the experience rather than looking back and say, ‘You know, I didn’t take advantage of that,'” he said. “You want it to be a situation where you create memories, but you’re also doing it and having the most fun you’ve ever had in your life.”

Garrett played more NCAA Tournament games in his first postseason than he has in the days since. In 2018, he played in five NCAA Tournament games. But since then, he’s only played in two, both of which were in 2019. That’s largely because KU lost out on the opportunity to make a run in 2020 when March Madness was canceled because of the pandemic.

COVID-19 remains a factor in this year’s tournament, although it’s not entirely clear how much it will affect the Jayhawks’ run. But the pandemic is also the reason that Garrett could elect to return for a second senior season if he’s not quite ready to leave or just wants another crack at it.

He went through Senior Night festivities a couple of weeks ago, but he did not rule out a return at that time, and Self has been open about the fact that he would love to have Garrett back.

Garrett still has a few individual accomplishments within reach. Most notably, he sits 54 points away from joining KU’s 1,000-point club. He’s made a strong push for that mark in recent weeks, too, scoring in double figures in three consecutive games and five of the last six.

Garrett’s 178 career steals also leave him just three steals shy of cracking the top 10 on KU’s all-time steals list.

None of that matters today, of course. Both Garrett and his head coach — the Hall of Famer who has called Garrett an extension of himself on the court — have their sights set only on what needs to be done to survive and advance this week.

“Just knowing that we have a chance to play for a championship always feels good,” Garrett said. “And I just can’t wait. (We’re) just taking it one game at a time, trying to advance as far as possible and having fun while we’re doing it.”

That approach might sound laid back. But his teammates have seen something different this week.

“I think he’s just extra focused,” sophomore guard Christian Braun said. “He really wants to win and he knows, for his future, that you know this is a big tournament for him. So I think everybody’s locked in, and we want to win for Marcus.”