Jayden Quaintance explores transfer portal (with a torn ACL)

Jayden Quaintance was once the ultimate prize of John Calipari’s recruiting class at Kentucky in the 2024 cycle, reclassifying up a year as a mandatory two-and-through — ineligible for the NBA Draft until 2026 due to age restrictions. The Wildcats were getting one of the most promising young talents in basketball with a two-year runway to work with rather than the eight months most obvious one-and-dones get in college.

“Jayden is a prodigy with a unique combination of strength, agility, skill and size for a young man who is only 16 years old,” Coach Cal said at the time of Quaintance’s signing. “He has an incredible ceiling and we’re excited about what his future holds.”

Then Calipari left for Arkansas and Quaintance decided to re-evaluate his options as the top uncommitted recruit in the country, coming in at No. 7 overall in the final 2024 On3 Industry Rankings. That led him to Arizona State — and the lucrative NIL partnership that came with — for his freshman campaign where he was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams, only the fifth player in conference history to hit those marks.

He averaged 9.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in 29 minutes per contest. Now, he’s expected to become available in the transfer portal — with a catch.

According to his father, Haminn Quaintance, the former five-star recruit underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee back in March. As things stand today, though, he’s “already ahead of schedule” and “should be cleared for contact in September,” he told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

You can land the potential top-five draft pick with a 7-5 wingspan and freakish athleticism and two-way instincts, but he won’t be cheap while also considering his delayed start due to injury. How long will it take for him to get up to full speed? What about the potential adjustment time for fitting into a new system — especially one, hypothetically, of course, like Mark Pope’s at Kentucky? He’s a superstar talent, but there is certainly risk involved when you’re paying a premium NIL price tag.

At bare minimum, a big-time name is available and gives the Wildcats one more option (out of 1,700, and counting) in the portal to consider when filling out the 2025-26 roster.

Want more coverage of the Cats? Join KSR+

KSR has been delivering UK Sports news in the most ridiculous manner for almost two decades. Now, you can get even more coverage of the Cats with KSR+. In the middle of an exciting Kentucky basketball season, now is the perfect time to join our online community. Subscribe now for premium articles, in-depth scouting reports, inside intel, bonus recruiting coverage, and access to KSBoard, our message board featuring thousands of Kentucky fans around the globe. Come join the club.