Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Garland sees one door close, another open
FAYETTEVILLE — Khalil Garland will be right at home Saturday when the University of Arkansas hosts Texas A&M in the regular-season finale.
Garland, 22, can often be seen pacing the sideline, offering motivation to the Razorbacks. The Little Rock native always wanted to play for his home state team, and dreamed of wearing the cardinal and white uniform. His game-day attire instead is a polo shirt and dress pants.
In November 2016, Garland inked his letter-of-intent to play for the Razorbacks. Rated as the No. 58 prospect nationally by ESPN, the Parkview High School standout believed he had a promising career on the horizon.
However, a medical condition prevented him from ever playing for the Hogs.
This journey of triumph and heartbreak never leaves him when entering Bud Walton Arena.
“It’s always in the back of my mind,” Garland said. “Every night when I walk into that gym it’s in the back of my mind.”
Four years removed from playing competitively, he often reminisces about when he was able to participate in the game he loves.
Garland was introduced to the sport at a young age. As a 4-year-old, he began playing at the Penick Boys & Girls Club in Little Rock. Alan Garland, Khalil’s father and a Henderson State basketball letterman, pushed him to continue improving his skills daily.
This prodding caused some father-son tension but in hindsight Khalil thankful for the hard work his dad encouraged.
“He stayed on me every day,” Garland said. “We didn’t have the best of relationships because of basketball, but I appreciate him pushing me. It molded me into who I am today.”
His father credits these struggles for building character.
“Sometimes it caused friction in our relationship because he thought I was pushing him too hard,” Alan Garland said. “It made him better and mentally stronger.”
The talent Khalil possessed was noticed by coaches in the area, and as a middle-schooler he was presented the opportunity to play on an elite traveling basketball team. This exposure gave him a chance to impress scouts who traveled to these tournaments.
After his 8th grade season, he received his first offer. It came from Connecticut head coach Kevin Ollie. This was a confidence booster for Garland, as the Huskies were just two years removed from winning the national championship.
“It was just like, if I got one, I could get a lot more,” Garland said. “I knew I had to keep working.”
His production continued to impress spectators, and as accolades piled up, so too did the interest of coaches. Over the next three years, more offers came rolling in.
Entering his senior season at Parkview, Garland’s stock began to dramatically rise due to a breakthrough junior campaign. After being named an all-state selection in each of his first two high school years, the University of Memphis began to heavily recruit him. In March 2016, he committed to play for the Tigers.
Roughly a month later, he would re-open his recruitment due to a head coaching change at Memphis coupled with a strong postseason performance.
Parkview posted a 26-3 record and defeated Pine Bluff in the 6A state championship game. After being named tournament MVP, his performance caught the attention of then Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson.
For Garland, the decision wasn’t too difficult.
“I wanted to stay home and play for the state,” he said.
After a verbal commitment to play for the Razorbacks, he put pen to paper at an assembly that fall.
“Everybody came out to watch me sign,” Garland said. “It was a good turnout. There was a lot of nerves, but I was excited because I was ready to come up to Fayetteville and play for my state.”
What he didn’t know was the last basketball he’d ever play would come in a Parkview uniform.
In his final high school season, the Patriots returned to the title game, but this time fell to rival Little Rock Mills. As he walked off the court and headed to the locker room, confetti fell on the newly crowned champs. While this loss was a bitter way for Garland to end his career at Parkview, he wasn’t devastated.
Much more basketball remained on the schedule. The next time he would lace up his shoes and take the court, “Razorbacks” would be written across his chest.
Or so he thought. Months passed, and the time had come for incoming freshman basketball players to leave home and move to Fayetteville. Summer workouts and practices were around the corner. As was required for all athletes, before Garland could participate in team activities, passing a physical exam was mandatory.
What would typically be a routine checkup turned into a life-altering examination.
“My freshman year when we got up here, we had to do a physical,” Garland recalled. “I was feeling fine, but when they got my results back, they said something was wrong with my heart. They made me take an EKG (electrocardiogram) test, and basically said I have cardiomyopathy. It’s where my heart is not getting enough blood, so at any point in time if I were to take a bad fall or hit on the court, they said I could either pass out or die.”
The news was crushing. “I was sad,” he said. “I was hurt. I was confused. I had a lot of questions. It was just a lot going on through my head.”
Despite this setback, he kept a positive outlook. Thinking he still might be able to compete in the future, the reality of the situation hadn’t sunken in just yet.
“The whole freshman year I was like, OK, I have to sit out this year,” Garland said. “I thought maybe I could get back next year. It didn’t hit me until my sophomore year when I tried again. They told me this was it. That’s when it really hit me.”
His basketball career was over. The countless hours spent working in the gym would never amount to playing in college. While the university still granted him a medical hardship scholarship, the dream he’d been chasing from a young age came to an abrupt end.
This misfortune caused severe sadness crippled with changes in behavior.
“That was a big gut-punch in my stomach,” he said. “I had a lot of questions like, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ I stopped going to classes. I was just watching practice and then going home.”
In the midst of dealing with this pain, two individuals helped comfort him. Teammates Jalen Harris and Mason Jones stepped in and provided Garland with the companionship needed to make it through the difficult season of life.
“Without them, I probably would’ve gone home,” Garland said. “I’m glad I had them around. I still talk to them almost every day. They are still my boys.”
In June 2019, newly hired coach Eric Musselman presented the opportunity for Garland to accept a new role with the team as a student assistant coach. Although this was never ideal, he has embraced the position.
“I am really like a coach, but I’m also still like a player,” Garland said. “I talk to the players and I talk to the coaches. I just try to make it as easy as possible for the team. I know what they are going through. I’m always trying to stay on them. I’m not too hard, but whenever they are messing around it’s my job to get them back on track.”
In a 2020 press conference, Musselman highlighted the importance of having Garland with the program.
“Khalil is awesome,” he said. “He just constantly is in our guys’ ears, and it’s important to have him with us and around us because guys respect him so much.”
Junior guard Desi Sills wears the number three, the same digit Garland planned on sporting.
“It’s an honor to wear his number,” Sills said. “I love him like a blood brother. I’m dedicating this season to him.”
Now in his senior year with the team, Garland often reflects on the last seconds of competitive basketball he ever played.
“I lost in the state championship by four points,” he said. “I remember it well. We would’ve won that game no question if I could go back now, knowing it was my last time to ever play. My whole senior year I took for granted. I regret it every day. I should’ve lived in the moment. Whenever you are on that court, don’t take anything for granted. You never know when it is your last. You just don’t know.”
Garland provides advice for players who may go through similar situations.
“Don’t dwell on it,” he said. “You can be sad; I’m not saying that you can’t be sad about it. At the end of the day, you have to get up and keep moving. Life doesn’t stop just because you can’t play basketball anymore. It is what it is. You’ve got to move on to the next thing.”
His focus has now shifted to career plans. Upon graduating following this academic year, he hopes to pursue a job that would keep his toes in the basketball world. He’s making connections with a goal of becoming an NBA scout.
“I’m excited for it,” Garland said. “I’m very excited about my future.”
While he’s thrilled about life after college, he doesn’t want to fall victim to the same mistake made in high school: not living in the moment. Although the “whatif” questions flood his mind each game day, he aims to embrace current circumstances.
“You dream of the chills that come with hearing your name called out and the fans cheering for you,” he said. “When I’m at the games and I know I could’ve been on the court, it can hurt. I’ve learned to not get too wrapped up in that anymore though.”
When fans see Garland cheering on the team from the sidelines, he doesn’t want them to pity his misfortune. He has a different perspective on the trials faced.
“Everything I’ve gone through has made me a stronger person,” he said. “It has made me enjoy and appreciate the things I have right now in my life.”