Jayden Quaintance Added to 2025-26 Men’s Basketball Roster
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jayden Quaintance (pronounced KWAYNE-tance), a 6-foot-9 forward who played his freshman season at Arizona State, has officially signed on to join Mark Pope’s Kentucky squad as a transfer for the 2025-26 season, it was announced on Friday.
“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. “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 started all 24 games in which he played with the Sun Devils, averaging 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.5 assists while shooting 52.5 percent from the field. His performance landed him spots on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team and Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Additionally, the Cleveland native was one of 15 players in the country named to the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year Watch List in early February.
Quaintance set Arizona State freshman records for total blocked shots (63) and rebounds per game (7.9), despite missing the latter portions of the season after suffering a torn ACL on Feb. 23. His 63 blocks combined with 27 steals made Quaintance the only player in the country to reach a combined 90 blocks and steals in fewer than 25 games. He scored in double figures in 11 games and led the team with six double-doubles. Quaintance led the Sun Devils in blocks in 19 of his 24 games played, blocking three or more shots in 11 contests. The forward also paced the team in rebounds 16 times.
In his very first collegiate game, Quaintance swatted a season-high six shots in a win over Idaho State. He had his first career double-double against St. Thomas on Nov. 17, scoring 13 points while corralling 14 rebounds. Quaintance followed that up with another double-double in the team’s very next game, finishing with 11 points and 12 boards vs. Cal Poly. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 23 following a breakout performance against UMass in which he scored 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds and four blocks. Quaintance scored a season-high 20 points against UCF on Jan. 14, also blocking five shots in the game. In his final action of the season at Kansas State, Quaintance mustered up 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting in just 26 minutes.
Quaintance was a consensus five-star prospect coming out of high school and a 2024 McDonald’s All-American. He was originally signed to UK under former head coach John Calipari before opting to attend Arizona State following the coaching change at Kentucky. As a high-schooler, Quaintance averaged 17.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 1.4 steals and 1.4 assists per game as part of the Overtime Elite high school league as a junior. After reclassifying from the class of 2025 to the class of 2024, Quaintance averaged 9.9 points, 6.2 boards, 1.6 blocks and 1.4 assists on the Nike grassroots circuit in the summer of 2023. He also represented Team USA at the 2023 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, winning a gold medal.
Despite already having one year of college basketball experience under his belt, Quaintance is just 17-years old, set to turn 18 this summer.
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