Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State Athletics Photo)
Jayden Quaintance is probably the most important transfer that coach Mark Pope brought to Kentucky this offseason — if he fully recovers from knee surgery.
He was the youngest player in college basketball last season at Arizona State but still was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team based on what he did before the knee injury ended his season.
The 6-11 Quaintance recently said he hopes to be back to full contact work in September and will be ready when UK opens the season. He said he definitely would be ready when Kentucky plays Louisville on Nov. 11.
That would be a rapid recovery. Maybe not impossible but it could be risky to play him too soon if he’s not 100 percent. That’s why Pope was not making any firm time commitment on when Quaintance would play during his press conference this week.
“The one thing I know about him, he’s an incredible talent and we’re going to go as fast as we can with the absolute most caution that we can,” Pope said.
Savor that comment — “as fast as we can with the absolute most caution we can.”
Problem is that can be a fine line to walk but Pope obviously would err on the side of caution because having Quaintance in March is way more important than having him in November.
“He’s working really hard. He’s making tremendous progress right now,” Pope said. “We’re gonna race back to 100 percent health as fast as we can.”
The best news for Kentucky is that when Quaintance is ready, Pope knows he is going to be special in a variety of ways.
“Talk about a beautiful young person, man. When I say young person, he’s really young, but he’s a beautiful kid,” Pope said. “I mean, Big Blue Nation is going to fall in love with Jayden Quaintance.
“He just is. He fits on our roster. He’s just a really special person.”
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That will give Quaintance time to fully recover and give Garrison and Moreno time to raise their level of play. Once Quaitance takes the floor, he will need time to get back in shape and find his game with a new team. I still think it will be late December before he is ready to go full speed. Garrison and Moreno are more than capable of holding down the 5 spot and Potter could play there if needed.
We can’t wait to see you on the floor, Jayden at 100%. We love you already and you are now a bona fide Kentuckian! I know you will love Kentucky and our fan base is like no other and you will witness that when you arrive. Continued good luck with your recuperation. GO CATS!