Mark Pope has given his first public comments on Kentucky’s biggest addition, so far, from the NCAA transfer portal. On Friday night, the Wildcats officially announced the addition of 6-foot-9 big man Jayden Quaintance for the 2025-26 season. Quaintance — a five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American in the 2024 high school class who was originally signed to play at UK for John Calipari — spent his freshman year at Arizona State. Quaintance averaged 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game last season for the Sun Devils. He played the whole season as a 17-year-old, and will turn 18 years old in July. “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 in a news release. “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.” Quaintance — who was named to the Big 12 Conference All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams — started all 24 games he played for Arizona State last season, averaging 29.7 minutes per contest. He led the Sun Devils last season in rebounding, blocks and steals, while shooting 52.5% from the floor and just 18.8% on a low volume of 3-pointers. Last season, Quaintance’s 63 blocks combined with his 27 steals made him the only player in the nation to reach a combined 90 blocks and steals in less than 25 games. Quaintance is already viewed as a top prospect for the 2026 NBA draft. Quaintance — who boasts a 7-foot-5 wingspan and is considered an extremely versatile player on both ends of the court — was one of the top players available in the transfer portal this spring. He’s ranked as a top 10 portal player by 247Sports. Quaintance picked UK from the transfer portal over interest from the likes of Auburn, Kansas, Ohio State and Southern Cal, among other schools. Something to monitor with Quaintance over the next few months will be his recovery from a knee surgery in March. Quaintance injured his knee during a game in February and underwent surgery on March 19 to repair a torn ACL.
According to ESPN, Haminn Quaintance, Jayden’s father, said his son is projected to be cleared for contact in September. This would allow Quaintance to be ready for the start of the 2025-26 college basketball season in November. Kentucky has now formally announced all four of its transfer portal additions, so far, for the 2025-26 season. UK has released statements confirming the arrivals of former Alabama sophomore forward Mouhamed Dioubate, former Pittsburgh sophomore guard Jaland Lowe, Quaintance and former Tulane freshman wing Kam Williams. Arizona State forward Jayden Quaintance (21) gets around UCF forward Keyshawn Hall (4) during a game on Jan. 14, 2025, at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona.
Kentucky is putting together team for 2025-26 season Pope’s second UK basketball team is coming sharply into focus. Six players from the 2024-25 UK team are out of NCAA eligibility. Those players are Ansley Almonor, Koby Brea, Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr, Jaxson Robinson and Amari Williams. Their college basketball careers are over. Guard Kerr Kriisa is expected to get a sixth season of college eligibility due to his injury issues. But, he’s already committed to Cincinnati from Kentucky out of the transfer portal. Players from the 2024-25 UK team who could return to the Wildcats next season are freshmen guards Collin Chandler and Travis Perry, freshman forward Trent Noah, sophomore center Brandon Garrison and junior guard Otega Oweh. UK has six newcomers in the fold for next season. Four players are transfer portal pickups. Those players are Dioubate, Lowe, Quaintance and Williams. Kentucky will also be bringing in high school recruits Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno, who recently won a Sweet 16 state championship with Georgetown’s Great Crossing High School. Moreno was a McDonald’s All-American this year. Both Johnson and Moreno are top-30 recruits nationally. On Thursday night, top-30 recruit Acaden Lewis decommitted from the Wildcats. Kentucky is still involved in the recruitment of high school senior Nate Ament, a five-star power forward from Virginia. Ament is down to five schools in his college recruitment: Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky, Louisville and Tennessee.
