Jasper Johnson played 'huge part' in getting Jayden Quaintance to Kentucky

Jayden Quaintance and Jasper Johnson were once teammates on the Nike EYBL circuit, suiting up together for Team Thad in the spring of 2023. They had one of the best teams in the field going into the summer before Quaintance joined Team Loaded in the summer for the Adidas 3SSB championships, followed by a reclassification decision to move up to the class of 2024 — guaranteeing him two seasons of college basketball before entering the 2026 NBA Draft.

We all know the rest of that story, Quaintance playing his final high school season at Word of God Christian Academy — John Wall’s high school — while Johnson suited up for Link Academy. The former would then sign with Kentucky, ultimately play at Arizona State, then hit the portal and re-sign with the Wildcats the following offseason.

And the latter was a big reason for it, Quaintance’s former teammate putting his recruiting cap on to help Mark Pope reel in his biggest fish yet in Lexington. Johnson was there from day one speaking on behalf of the blue and white.

“My guy, Jasper Johnson, he was a big part of kind of helping me lean toward Kentucky,” Quaintance told KSR this week. “He’s been talking about how much he loves the environment and situation and the fans and the coaching and just how he thought I’d be able to fit well into the system that they have going on here and the team that they’re trying to build.

“So my guy Jasper has helped me a lot in kind of getting here.”

In a follow-up interview with Rob Dauster and Jeff Goodman on the Field of 68, Quaintance doubled down on Johnson’s assist landing him in Lexington. When asked about his contact with Kentucky’s other portal additions in Jaland Lowe, Kam Williams and Mo Dioubate, the star forward said he doesn’t know them personally quite yet, but he’s plenty familiar with the incoming rookies.

It’s not just Johnson, either. Quaintance actually said Malachi Moreno did some recruiting to help push him to Lexington, too — the local kids stepping up to earn the big-time commitment.

“Honestly, I haven’t really gotten to talk to many of the other people who committed through the portal, but I have talked to some of the freshmen that are coming in. I did reclass up, so I was in their class (originally),” he said. “I’m really familiar with Jasper and Malachi — I had relationships with them prior to committing.”

Make no mistake, though, Johnson was right there with the coaches pushing as a lead recruiter.

“Jasper was a huge part of trying to lead me this way, talking to coaches and talking to me about kind of what was going on the situation,” he continued. “He helped a lot, you know, getting me here. He was a big part of that. The relationship we had already playing on Team Thad and winning a lot there, that was good. And then Malachi was there with me on my visit, so I had prior relationships with them.

“As far as the transfer portal, I haven’t really gotten to talk to them yet, but I’m excited to when I get on campus.”

Former AAU teammates are now future Kentucky teammates — a full-circle moment for the pair of five-stars.