Jayden Quaintance injury update: Mark Pope hopes for ‘race’ back to health

In February, Jayden Quaintance tore his ACL against Kansas State. On Tuesday, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope provided an update on the transfer big man’s condition.

“The one thing I know about him, he’s an incredible talent,” Pope said. “We’re going to go as fast as we can with the absolute most caution that we can. And so, he’s working really hard. He’s making tremendous progress right now. Talk about a beautiful, young person, man. He’s really young, actually. When I say young person, he really young, but he’s a beautiful kid.

“Big Blue Nation is gonna fall in love with Jayden Quaintance. He just fits on our roster. He’s just a really special person and so we’re gonna race back to 100% health as fast as we can.”

Quaintance initially committed to John Calipari and Kentucky. However, Quaintance de-committed after Calipari left the program to take over at Arkansas. Quaintance ultimately ended up at Arizona State, where he had a standout freshman year.

He started in all 24 of his appearances for the Sun Devils, averaging 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 52.5% from the field. He shot 6-32 (18.8%) from 3-point range last season.

Quaintance was even more imposing on defense than he was on offense. He averaged 2.6 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. For his efforts, he was named an All-Big 12 Defensive Team selection and an All-Freshman Team member.

After undergoing ACL surgery, Quaintance hopped in the transfer portal this offseason. He was the No. 4 overall player in On3’s 2025 Transfer Portal Player Rankings and easily the highest-rated player in Kentucky’s transfer class.

While Quaintance is far from ready for in-game action, his recovery is ahead of schedule. In fact, during an interview with Aaron Torres, Quaintance said that he expects to be fully recovered by September.

“I’m trying to get fully back by September, playing like full contact playing by September, so that’s the goal so far,” Quaintance said. “Just trying to stay on pace for that.

““I’ve been doing well… Focusing on my recovery as much as possible. I’ve been getting my flexibility back pretty well. I’ve been getting full extension, all those things, so it’s been going well.”

Jayden Quaintance is only one of six incoming transfers for Kentucky. The Wildcats boast the No. 2 class in On3’s 2025 Team Transfer Portal Rankings.