Jayden Quaintance, left, last played for UK in early January. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky basketball fans were so excited when 6-foot-10 Jayden Quaintance, who originally signed with Kentucky but then went to Arizona State after John Calipari left, decided to transfer to UK after his freshman season at Arizona State.
He injured his knee the second half of last season and his timeline to be able to play was uncertain when he got to UK but he was a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. He could be a defensive terror and a strong inside presence on offense with his size, length and skill set.
Quaintance recovered from his ACL injury to get back in the lineup in UK’s win over St. John’s in December and had 10 points and eight rebounds despite playing sparingly. However, he played only three more games before swelling in his knee sidelined him again after he played on Jan. 7.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope said the sophomore big man was in “full shutdown” mode in late January and indicated he was not optimistic about him getting back to full strength to where he could play this season.
On Feb. 19 Pope said “we’re working slowly but positively” to get Quaintance back.
Some Kentucky fans have been frustrated that Quaintance finally played four games and then has not played again for almost two months. He’s been on the bench, and he’s been at other UK athletic events with his teammates. He’s continued to rehab and do what the UK coaches and training staff have asked.
CBS Sports’ draft analyst Kyle Boone released a new first-round NBA mock draft last week and placed Quaintance at No. 29 to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Boone also said a return to college might be Quaintance’s best move.
“It’s turned into a lost season at Kentucky for Quaintance, who has appeared in only four games,” Boone wrote. “I’d be a bit surprised if he didn’t come back to school. But if he stays in the draft, he’d be a tremendous late-first value for a team like Minnesota, giving them a young defensive monster in the front court to build around.”
Quaintance’s father, Haminn, was not thrilled with Boone’s assessment.
“He (Boone) definitely will be surprised,” Haminn Quaintance posted on social media.
Haminn Quaintance sort of provided his own health update about his son over the weekend and also showed his frustration with fans questioning his son’s desire to play.
“Yall just push any narrative and run with,” Haminn Quaintance posted on X. “We fought against staff to come back the st Johns game early with only 1 full practice under his belt in a year fought for full minutes not being restricted to 7 against Bellarmine and being able to play his game without the handcuffs on. He had some swelling and was pulled by UK medical staff he has being doing everything to get it out. He don’t go out. don’t hang out. All he do is ice and rehab 24/7 he is just now getting it out. So whatever frustration u think u got from him not playing u can multiply that by a thousand for him.”
Too much info? Overreaction by a father?
No and no. I thought it was good that the UK sophomore’s father offered some insights on what his son has been going through and I also can understand his frustration with fans questioning his son’s desire to play when he sees the daily work his son is doing to get back.
Will Quaintance play against this season? I am not sure anyone knows but maybe there is a chance he could be cleared for limited NCAA Tournament play. Same with Kam Williams, who is out with a broken foot but working to get back.
However, no matter what happens don’t blame Haminn Quaintance for defending his son against those questioning his desire to play.
7 Responses
Sometimes alumni and fans should keep their innermost feeling to themselves. Negativity can only hurt the coach, players, program and university – especially in today’s click world.
That's what I've been saying for the last 5yrs. The Big Boohoo Nation started the downfall for the Cats. Now they have pretty much killed them. No coach wants to coach and no player wants to play for a bunch of whiny, crybaby, entitled "fans". Ky will have to spend more than $22 million just to fill the roster with mediocre players next year. No high quality players will come here. I doubt if any players come back next year. That's mostly a good thing. Even if Pope is gone, Not one established winning coach will come here. Good luck getting any top 50 players in the future.
I don't think that is entirely true. When you make a commitment to a team and give a crazy comeback date of September first then you don't come back when we all knew he would come back. I said at the beginning of confrence play which was the beginning of January. With these injuries there is no way in heck you really know when you will be back. Jayden Qs father finessed Mark Pope out of whatever they paid for him. Which was probably if not the highest paid player on the team then he's definitely top 3 highest paid player on the team to be a cheerleader on the bench is the problem. How can you complain about how early he came back to play for Kentucky after just one practice, to complaining about his playing time? That was a catch 22 like just about everything his dad says. Oh he will be ready September 1st. That was the most desperate cry for a paycheck that I've ever heard. His dad really believed thay after just 6 months removed from a major surgery that his son would heal faster than any man has ever healed was the assumption that Mark Pope was going off of. Then to come back in. December after only one practice and complain about only practicing one time so of course he would be on limited minutes then to complain about the limited mins. Is beyond me. Was JQ supposed to play 30 minutes per game without handcuffs after one practice? What happens is the players are told so many different things by so many different people. So was JQ ready when he came back or did he come back to early? If he came back to early Why? I understand defending your son but when you lie to a fan base about pretty much everything and we are real Kentucky fans we aren't going to start questioning it when we hear about it everyday and nothing has changed???!!
JQ and his health is not my point. My point is the whining started with Wheeler. Then it went from player to player. Caliper playing his pets they cried. Then Cal said the "basketball bennies" should let him coach. Then the whiners really cried. Pope has said the same thing as Cal just in different words. Ever since the whiners started, the quality of players has declined. Now its hit close to bottom. No quality coach or player options. I figure if Pope stays he will go to the G league. I'm not interested in watching a bunch of NBA rejects.
To make a long story short, nothing but lies has been said. Are we supposed to keep eating stupid-O's? So fans now need to shut up and not have a opinion. Hey Hammin I thought he would be ready September 1st? Then he doesn't get enough playing time he doesn't want to be cuffed? But yet he came back early after one practice. Sounds to me like your damned if you do and your damned if you don't with Hammin.
My Grandpa always said “Never Buy a Lame Horse no matter how pretty he is”. The Proctologist doctor coach got suckered into paying 3 million or more for a Lame Horse that will never come out of the barn….
I agree. I also believe that by not playing JQ has put himself in a bad position. If he would have played limited mins like 10-12 mins per game it would help his stock more than not playing at all. When you don't play even one full year in 2 years of college the NBA is taking notes. Nobody wants to pay someone to sit on the bench. Like I said he should have played limited minutes and stats wouldn't have mattered. It's the fact that the NBA sees your getting better. That's what they want to see. Some players never fully comeback after a surgery and that's what these NBA scouts want to see. In 2 years he hasn't even played one full college season. How will he make it in the NBA they play 82 games a year or more. If you can't make it for 34-35 games in college how will you doing it playing in twice as many games.