Kentucky's highest ranked 2024 recruit requests release from NLI

Kentucky has lost another 2024 recruit.

Apr 2, 2024; Houston, TX, USA; McDonald's All American West guard Vazoumana Diallo (5) drives to the / Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky basketball received some more terrible news as five-star center signee Jayden Quaintance has requested a release from his NLI.

This comes as a surprise as recently Quaintance said he would stick with Kentucky through the process of finding a new coach.

It will be interesting to see if Kentucky's new coach goes after Quaintance, as he projects to be an outstanding player and will have to stay in college for two years before he is NBA draft-eligible.

However you want to spin it, this is a significant loss for the Kentucky Wildcats, as Quaintance would have brought the physicality the Wildcats were missing a year ago.

Quaintance will not be the last recruit the Wildcats lose before it is all said and done.

Here is Adam Finkelstein of 247Sports scouting report on Quaintance, "Jayden Quaintance is one of the most naturally talented prospects in the country. He’s 6-foot-9 with massively long arms (7-foot-3-plus wingspan), vertical athleticism, a strong frame, good hands, soft touch, shooting potential, natural face-up skill, and signs of a passing instinct. He also runs the floor well and is a solid rebounder when he commits himself.Offensively, he has all the natural tools to be a huge mismatch threat. He’s already a major lob and tip-dunk threat who dunks balls while still on his way up, and is equally dangerous out of the dunker spot. He’s intent on developing his shooting range and has the natural touch to do so, which will allow him to maximize floor-spacing in both directions. Consequently, he should be a very tough cover in ball-screen action, because he’s equally capable of rolling or popping. He can put the ball on the floor and attack opposing bigs off the dribble. He’s also a threat to out-run them from rim-to-rim and capable of both making tough catches in traffic and then absorbing contact. Long-term, he should even be someone who is difficult to double-team because of his natural passing ability.