Arizona State star Jayden Quaintance commits to Kentucky
Jayden Quaintance is officially gone.
A five-star freshman who is projected to be a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Quaintance committed to Kentucky on Tuesday. He originally committed to Kentucky out of high school, then flipped to Arizona State after John Calipari left for Arkansas.
Quaintance, 17, tore his ACL against Kansas State on Feb. 23 and was shut down for the season. He underwent surgery to repair the ACL in his right knee on March 19.
Quaintance, the youngest player in college basketball, averaged 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals for the Sun Devils. Because he doesn't turn 18 until July he's not eligible for the 2025 NBA Draft.
Quaintance stands 6-foot-9, but he boasts a 7-foot-3 wingspan. He had eight games with four or more blocked shots this season, including back-to-back Big 12 games with five blocks (vs. UCF and Cincinnati). He was named to the Big 12's All-Defensive team and All-Newcomer team.
His father, Haminn Quaintance, told ESPN he will be fully recovered from his ACL injury by the time the 2025-26 college basketball season starts. But ACL injuries typically take at least nine months to recover from, followed by a month of practice and game conditioning. That would put Quaintance's tiimeline to return somewhere in January 2026.
A total of seven Arizona State players have now entered the portal since it opened on March 24. The portal will remain open until April 22.
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-66e6aeb5014b4c4eeac84ca997f034c9.jpg "Ben Sherman")
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.