Mark Pope on Jayden Quaintance, "a hulking mass of physicality," and when he'll return to the court

One of the biggest questions about next season is when Jayden Quaintance will make his Kentucky debut. The former Kentucky signee and Arizona State Sun Devil is rehabbing from ACL surgery with hopes of being cleared to practice in September. During an interview with Jon Rothstein, Mark Pope didn’t go into too much detail about Quaintance’s timeline to return, but said he and his staff are working with the big man’s doctors and rehab team to make sure he is back to 100% as quickly as possible.

“We’re in a full rush,” Pope said. “When I say full rush, we’re going to rush back to 100% complete health. And so, you know, we’re thinking, we’re optimistic that we’re going to have really, really good results in the fall. We’ll see how that goes. But we’re going to rush him back to get to 100% healthy before we roll him out on the court.”

Pope took time out of his busy schedule to check in on Quaintance at his home in Sarasota, Florida on Tuesday. He was happy to report that the 6’10”, 225 lbs. forward is being “incredibly diligent” about his rehab, even electing to stay home to focus on it instead of joining his fellow incoming transfers in Lexington this past weekend on their official visits.

“We’re really excited about Jayden; in fact, I was just with him yesterday, and he is a hulking mass of like, physicality and the greatest kid you’re ever going to meet in your life,” Pope said. “He’s been incredibly diligent about his rehab. He’s doing [it with] some incredible doctors, and we’re working really hard to make this transition of care, this continuity of care, is going to be really important for him, but he’s going to race back and get healthy and strong as soon as he can and he’ll be a big part of our deal.”

Quaintance originally committed to Kentucky in November 2023, becoming the fourth member of John Calipari’s 2024 recruiting class. He considered staying with the program after Calipari left for Arkansas, but ultimately headed west to Arizona State, where he earned Big 12 All-Freshman and All-Defensive team honors after averaging 9.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks in 29 minutes per game. Pope said the fact that Quaintance was able to put up those numbers as the youngest player in college basketball in a league like the Big 12 is proof of his massive upside.

“He’s gonna be a difference maker. You know, you think about a 16-year-old who’s a double-double guy in the Big 12. Like, that’s insane, and he’s a really impressive young man. So we’re looking forward to getting him back.”

When asked which of his former teammates Quaintance reminded him of, Pope went with former Clemson star Dale Davis, whom Pope played with during his rookie season with the Indiana Pacers. Davis, who was 6’11” 252 lbs during his prime, spent the first nine seasons of his 16-year NBA career with the Pacers and left the franchise as the team’s all-time rebounds leader.

“Just in his physical appearance. I’m gonna go with, and it was a former teammate of mine. But if you remember the great Dale Davis, I got to play with my rookie year. …Dale Davis was an elite-level shot blocker, an incredible athlete, could really run the floor, was going to punish you with the rim, and he had a presence about him that just screamed intimidation. And Jayden has unbelievable timing. He’s incredibly mobile. He’s actually got some real skill putting the ball on the floor offensively. Listen, he’s destined to be a star.”

The chance to expand his game offensively is one of the reasons Quaintance chose Kentucky after entering the transfer portal. He averaged 1.5 assists per game at Arizona State last season, but told KSR on the day he committed that he’s looking forward to distributing the ball even more in Pope’s system, ala Amari Williams.

“When I’m able to get back on the court, they kind of will be able to play through me a little bit more,” Quaintance said when he called into the show on April 8. “I’ll be able to work on the perimeter a little bit more, you know, get to show off my playmaking ability more than I was able to this year, be able to play downhill, push the ball off the break. You know, just work on my versatility more.”

While we wait to see Quaintance dominate players on the court, he’s looking forward to dominating his new head coach in another game: chess. Pope teased Quaintance’s chess skills in the press release announcing his signing on April 11. Today, he told Rothstein he’s getting in some extra training before Quaintance gets to campus to be ready for their matches. (You may remember his duels with Collin Chandler last season.)

“He’s already posturing to crush me in chess. He claims he’s a novice chess player, but I’m a little nervous. I’m actually doing some online chess, trying to prep myself.”

Can we live stream those matches, please?

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