Mark Pope Won't Rush to Get Jayden Quaintance on the Court

I absolutely knew when they said he would "Absolutely" be ready by September 1st I called B.S.. That was only 6 months post surgery. Even Joe Burrow who is much more of a superstar and has the same doctors took a year to come back and really 14-15 months to be 100% back. Yes that's football and yes this is basketball. SEC basketball is about like ACC football lol but it's very physical. We play Louisville November 11th. Almost a month away and I don't think he will be playing in that game. I doubt he plays at the earliest late December, maybe around the start of the SEC slate. Even then I only see him playing in 5-6 minute spurts. By the time the NCAA tournament rolls around he should be 100%. I can also see a situation were he's almost ready all year and used Kentucky as a early payday to practice against "the best" in preparation for 2026 NBA draft were he doesn't really even need to play this year and he will still be a lottery pick. There is no way 15 teams will pass JQ up. He has the most potential in college basketball at the post position. If he would have played for us last year he would have backed up Amari Williams. He gets off the ground faster than I've ever seen someone at his size and length. He causes disruption on everyone's shot that drives to the basket and he's a excellent rebounder because of how fast he gets off the ground. It also makes him a elite shot blocker. He was the best shot blocker in college basketball last year per minutes played. At 17 years old. You had guys like the center for Auburn and the center for Kansas who were almost 10 years older than JQ and he actually looked better than they did. His defense is elite (shot blocking, rebounding, altering shots, and locking down his man). His offense is raw but he's nearly unstoppable when he gets the ball 6 feet from the basket or closer it's a guaranteed dunk. He's not like Williams who tried to finger roll a layup. Hes going to try and tear the basket off of the backboard. He's super long for 6'10" and very broad. He takes up a ton of space because his shoulders are huge. I think he can be the difference maker for this team. The difference between a final 4 team and a championship team. I think the earlier he comes back it will only help us hit our peek earlier in the season. He might come off the bench all year. Come in when Garrison or Mo-D or Moreno need a breather when he first comes back. The way Pope coaches it doesnt matter if your a starter or the 11th man if your making plays and playing good defense he will keep them on the floor. Right now I see Lowe/Oweh/Aberdeen/Mo-D/Garrison as possibly the starters. I do know Mo-D prefers the 3 were he will play in the NBA and JQ prefers the 4 but he needs to work on his jump shot and 3 pointer if he wants to play the 4. As of right now in his career he's definitely a 5. He's trying to work on his game and make himself a bruiser 4. I can see when SEC play comes around possibly Lowe/Oweh/Mo-D/JQ/Garrison. This lineup would almost be impossible to score on. You have 3 of the best college defensive specialist on the court together. Oweh Mo-D and JQ are probably each the best at there position on defense in all of college basketball. Then you can bring in a platoon of shooters. Johnson/Chandler/Noah/Williams/Moreno or Potter. There are so many possibilities. I do believe that at some point this year we see JQ at about 100%. The faster we see the faster this team will hit it's peak. We have a championship roster, but I'm going to be careful about saying yes we will win the national championship. It seems like when we have the best roster in college basketball it doesn't always equal a championship. The 2015 team to me was even better than the 1996 and 1997 and 1998 teams. We had 2 top 5 platoons in 2015. We had 4 NBA all stars on the team. In 1996-1998 we had 0 NBA all stars on the team. I think Antoine Walker made the all star game once or twice. But 2015 just having Karl Anthony Towns and Devin Booker on the team. That's 2 of the best in the NBA right now. The 2015 team also had 10 NBA players on the team. The 1996 team had 6-7 NBA players on the team and 0 all stars. Larry Vaught could have coaches the ,2015 team to a national championship. So I'm not going to say we will win the championship this year. I do believe it's our best chance since 2015.

One Response

Mr. Know it all Terry Wren says:

October 9, 2025 at 11:42 am

I absolutely knew when they said he would "Absolutely" be ready by September 1st I called B.S.. That was only 6 months post surgery. Even Joe Burrow who is much more of a superstar and has the same doctors took a year to come back and really 14-15 months to be 100% back. Yes that's football and yes this is basketball. SEC basketball is about like ACC football lol but it's very physical. We play Louisville November 11th. Almost a month away and I don't think he will be playing in that game. I doubt he plays at the earliest late December, maybe around the start of the SEC slate. Even then I only see him playing in 5-6 minute spurts. By the time the NCAA tournament rolls around he should be 100%. I can also see a situation were he's almost ready all year and used Kentucky as a early payday to practice against "the best" in preparation for 2026 NBA draft were he doesn't really even need to play this year and he will still be a lottery pick. There is no way 15 teams will pass JQ up. He has the most potential in college basketball at the post position. If he would have played for us last year he would have backed up Amari Williams. He gets off the ground faster than I've ever seen someone at his size and length. He causes disruption on everyone's shot that drives to the basket and he's a excellent rebounder because of how fast he gets off the ground. It also makes him a elite shot blocker. He was the best shot blocker in college basketball last year per minutes played. At 17 years old. You had guys like the center for Auburn and the center for Kansas who were almost 10 years older than JQ and he actually looked better than they did. His defense is elite (shot blocking, rebounding, altering shots, and locking down his man). His offense is raw but he's nearly unstoppable when he gets the ball 6 feet from the basket or closer it's a guaranteed dunk. He's not like Williams who tried to finger roll a layup. Hes going to try and tear the basket off of the backboard. He's super long for 6'10" and very broad. He takes up a ton of space because his shoulders are huge. I think he can be the difference maker for this team. The difference between a final 4 team and a championship team. I think the earlier he comes back it will only help us hit our peek earlier in the season. He might come off the bench all year. Come in when Garrison or Mo-D or Moreno need a breather when he first comes back. The way Pope coaches it doesnt matter if your a starter or the 11th man if your making plays and playing good defense he will keep them on the floor. Right now I see Lowe/Oweh/Aberdeen/Mo-D/Garrison as possibly the starters. I do know Mo-D prefers the 3 were he will play in the NBA and JQ prefers the 4 but he needs to work on his jump shot and 3 pointer if he wants to play the 4. As of right now in his career he's definitely a 5. He's trying to work on his game and make himself a bruiser 4. I can see when SEC play comes around possibly Lowe/Oweh/Mo-D/JQ/Garrison. This lineup would almost be impossible to score on. You have 3 of the best college defensive specialist on the court together. Oweh Mo-D and JQ are probably each the best at there position on defense in all of college basketball. Then you can bring in a platoon of shooters. Johnson/Chandler/Noah/Williams/Moreno or Potter. There are so many possibilities. I do believe that at some point this year we see JQ at about 100%. The faster we see the faster this team will hit it's peak. We have a championship roster, but I'm going to be careful about saying yes we will win the national championship. It seems like when we have the best roster in college basketball it doesn't always equal a championship. The 2015 team to me was even better than the 1996 and 1997 and 1998 teams. We had 2 top 5 platoons in 2015. We had 4 NBA all stars on the team. In 1996-1998 we had 0 NBA all stars on the team. I think Antoine Walker made the all star game once or twice. But 2015 just having Karl Anthony Towns and Devin Booker on the team. That's 2 of the best in the NBA right now. The 2015 team also had 10 NBA players on the team. The 1996 team had 6-7 NBA players on the team and 0 all stars. Larry Vaught could have coaches the ,2015 team to a national championship. So I'm not going to say we will win the championship this year. I do believe it's our best chance since 2015.