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Kentucky sophomore Jayden Quaintance just celebrated his 18th birthday. That means he actually would be eligible to play high school basketball this season.
Quaintance said he rarely even thinks about being so much younger than other college players in his same class.
“I’ve been playing it up against older people since I was like 8. It’s been my whole life playing basketball in school. I’ve always been with older people,” said Quaintance, an Arizona State transfer. “I was always the youngest in the group, so it’s kind of natural to me.”
Maybe that’s because Quaintance does not look all that young. He’s a 6-foot-9, 235-pound athletic big who is already being projected as a 2026 NBA first-round draft pick. He averaged 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.5 assists per game at Arizona State while shooting 52.5 percent from the field. Not only was he named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team but he was also named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team — he was even one of 15 players on the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year Watch List in February.
He injured his knee in February but still set a school freshman record with 63 blocked shots. He also had 27 steals to make him the only player in the country to have a combined 90 blocks and steals in fewer than 25 games last season.
What did he learn as a freshman playing against much older players at times last season?
“Never be afraid of the moment, always play to your level and not worry about any matchups,” Quaintance said. “I’ve been younger than everybody my whole career and have always played against people on paper who are supposed to be more skilled than me and going up against that challenge. So I feel like that’s probably the biggest thing (I learned), playing with confidence and not being afraid of the matchup.”
Quaintance admitted despite his size and physical play, he’s never really lifted weights and had to adjust to that training in college.
“On the court, I felt pretty comfortable because I did prep for all of high school,” Quaintance said.
Quaintance originally committed to play at Kentucky for John Calipari. Quaintance, a consensus five-star player and McDonald’s All-American despite reclassifying to the 2024 recruiting class, asked for his UK release after Calipari left for Arkansas.
“It’s definitely great to be back. It’s a little different when I first committed, obviously, but I really trust in what coach (Mark) Pope has going here,” Quaintance said. “I really trust in the guys that we have here, and I’m really excited for the things that we could do here.
“I think it’s going to be a great time, and I’m really excited to see what this run looks like. I really feel like we have a great chance to win (national championship) number nine. I’m super excited.”
So what does Pope have “going on” exactly that Quaintance likes so much?
“Just how he was able to transform the offense, scoring multiple 100-point games,” Quaintance said. “You know, play with speed, play with pace and surprise. So many people had a lot of questions about what it would look like with a new guy coming to run the program, and the first year he made it to the Sweet 16. That’s really hard to do.
“With him being able to recruit the way he wanted this year and the team that he has put together, we have a chance to win it all. Everybody is buying in and getting to know each other better. It has been really fun so far.”
Quaintance has not been cleared for full contact practice/drills. He hopes to be full speed in October and ready for the start of the season. Pope has stressed a more patient approach rather than taking any risks rushing him back even though UK plays at Louisville Nov. 11.
“I haven’t been able to do all the reps that everybody else has been able to do, obviously, but I’ve been watching, observing, taking notes, learning the plays, learning the actions, and just kind of getting adapted to the playing style, getting adapted to the way the coaches think,” Quaintance said. “I feel like that’s going to prepare me really well for when I am able to go 100 percent and help contribute on the floor.
“It’s really just trusting the trainers and coaches to try and get me back at 100 percent. They really are invested in my future and what I can do to help here, and they don’t want to rush me to get back before I’m ready.”
3 Responses
I'm excited about seeing this young man on the floor. I believe he will be a game changer.
He could be a game changer once he gets on the floor. The closer we get to the start of the season, the more it looks like Quaintance will not be ready to play…not at 100% anyway. If that's true, why would he risk his potential top 5 draft status to play at any level less than 100%? My guess is he will want to shake off some rust and produce some PT flashes that will confirm his draft stock. My gut is telling me that January is the more likely time for him to hit the floor and even then will be at less than 100%. Quaintance at 85% is still not a bad option to have in a reserve role, but it magnifies the importance of getting Jelavic cleared to play. Potter may be thrust into more PT than he expected and Dioubate may be asked to play the 4 spot some even though he will be more effective at the 3. The power forward position will have the biggest impact on what this team is capable of accomplishing with the improvement in the games of Lowe, Garrison, and Noah being a close second. The darkhorse factor for this team will be Johnson and Moreno. Freshmen should not be expected to have much of an impact on such an experienced and deep team, but Johnson will be pushing for more minutes and Moreno may have to take on more PT whether he is ready or not.
Yea it went from I guarantee I will be back in September to now October. I don't think he will be fully 100% until SEC play. I don't see how this kid can even see his hair is down in his eyes. It's like he's hiding behind his hair. I don't know if he's shy. Or why he does that it would seem to get in the way of his vision. He looks around his hair or through it because it's right in front of his eye. Never lifted weights and has a body like that wow. Can you imagine if he actually spends time in the gym lifting some weights he will be a monster. I do think he can play some spot minutes in December or so. Like 5-10 minute stretches off the bench to get him prepared for the bulk of the season. This kid could end up only playing for 2-3 months and made over 2.5 million. That's over 100k a game. That's more than the NBA players. I do think he will be unstoppable once he is ready. Another thing that needs to happen that almost always happens after a surgery and injury is your always thinking about it. That makes it harder to come back the first year because you remember it more fondly.