No way was Jayden Quaintance going to pass up a second chance to play basketball at the University of Kentucky.
The 6-10 Quaintance planned to play at Kentucky for coach John Calipari but instead ended up at Arizona for the 2024-25 season after Calipari left UK for Arkansas.
“We always liked Kentucky,” Haminn Quaintance, Jayden’s father, said. “We were always hoping it might work out so they would recruit him again.”
That didn’t happen when Mark Pope got the UK job after Calipari left but when Quaintance put his name into the transfer portal one of the first coaches to reach out was Pope.
“Jayden is a 17-year-old phenom who is as explosive as he is skilled, and he is just scratching the surface of what he’s going to become in this game,” Pope said. “He’s an incredibly bright kid who is already postering anyone in Big Blue Nation in a game of chess and he and his family couldn’t be more excited to finally get to wear the Blue and White.”
Obviously, Kentucky was not the only school to reach out but Kentucky had one edge. Signee Jasper Johnson, a Kentucky native, and Quaintance played on the same AAU team and kept a good relationship.
“They set (Nike) EYBL on fire. They like each other and competing with each other,” Haminn Quaintance said. “Jasper talked to the (UK) coaching staff about Jayden. They were talking and that did definitely influence the decision (about coming to UK).
“We were locked into Kentucky before the Cal thing happened. We felt a part of it. Jayden always loved UK. We just wanted to be there and they wanted us to be there. We didn’t have to do another visit.”
Quaintance averaged 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game last season when he shot 52.5 percent from the field. He was named to the Big 12 Conference All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams. He started all 24 games and averaged 29.7 minutes per contest. His 63 blocks combined with 27 steals made Quaintance the only player in the country to reach a combined 90 blocks and steals in fewer than 25 games last season.
He was also the youngest player in college basketball last season and only two players on this year’s McDonald’s All-American Team were younger than Quaintance.
The family didn’t want to “drag out” a decision because Himann Quaintance thought that might only make the choice more confusing.
“It was already so hard with the Auburn situation. I was impressed with Kentucky. So was he. Kentucky already felt like home. I didn’t want to have a school like (national champion) Florida call or another school that I might really like calls,” Himann Quaintance said. “It’s just too much and too many hard decisions. When you already have a school you like, you do not need another one complicating the decision because my phone was on fire. There was just no need to drag it out.”
Despite the numbers Jayden Quaintance had at Arizona State, his father never felt the system was the best fit for his son.
“It was guard ball. He could dominate at times but the system just did not utilize his playmaking ability,” Haminn Quaintance said. “They just didn’t have an emphasis on getting the ball in the post even when we had mismatches. He’s up to about 250 (pounds) or so now. He looks big but to me he is still slim and can get bigger.
“I feel like what Pope does is made for him. I know what he can do and he’ll have a chance to grow his game at Kentucky. I saw Kentucky play some last year. They are one of my favorite teams and I would get an alert (on my phone) when they played. When Pope called, I knew exactly what he was talking about with his team. He plays his bigs similar to how I played. Pope likes his passing ability and ball handling. He likes he can guard one through five.”
Quaintance is already being projected as a top 10 pick in the 2026 NBA draft even though he suffered a knee injury in February and had surgery on March 19 to repair his torn ACL.
“If everything goes as planned, being ready when the season starts is the goal. I really think that is going to happen,” Quaintance’s father said. “He is attacking rehab. We expect to be back in time for the start of the season. Jayden will do the work to make sure that happens.”
