Is a reunion in play?
Jayden Quaintance is in the transfer portal, and the Kentucky Wildcats have re-entered the chat.
Quaintance, a former Kentucky signee under John Calipari, has been contacted by Mark Pope’s staff, and according to KSR’s Jacob Polacheck, there is mutual interest between both sides.
A 6-foot-9 native of Cleveland (OH), Quaintance is recovering from a torn ACL suffered late in the regular season during his freshman season at Arizona State. He is expected to be cleared for contact in September, his father told ESPN, which means he could be ready for the start of next season.
In 24 games (all starts), the 5-star class of 2024 recruit averaged 9.3 points (52.5% shooting and 18.8% on 3s), 7.8 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, 1.5 assists, and 1.1 steals in 29.7 minutes per game. He was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman and All-Defensive Teams, all while being the youngest player in college basketball.
Quaintance is probably the biggest boom-or-bust prospect in this year’s transfer portal cycle. On one hand, he has the potential to make a major leap in Year 2 and become an All-American candidate.
On the other hand, that injury could make things very dicey, depending on how his recovery goes. ACL tears are extremely difficult to come back from, so it’s fair to wonder if he’ll be about what he was this season or maybe even regress a little.
And you know he’ll ask for a major NIL package, likely in the $2+ million range, which could complicate things for Kentucky, who has already recruited and missed out on another big man with injury concerns in San Diego State transfer Magoon Gwath.
Kentucky reportedly didn’t want to offer Gwath all of his NIL money upfront, as some of it was going to be incentivized based on whether he was healthy enough to play following multiple injuries at San Diego State. Kentucky may try to do the same with Quaintance, which could complicate things.
The good news is it doesn’t appear like Quaintance will make a decision soon. Perhaps Kentucky can recruit other bigs who are more of a sure thing for next season, and if those don’t work out, go all-in on Quaintance.
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