Jayden Quaintance injury update: Mark Pope reveals latest on Kentucky transfer

Kentucky forward Jayden Quaintance still hasn’t been cleared for non-contact activities, per CBS Sports‘ Jon Rothstein. Quaintance tore his ACL in February at Arizona State before transferring to Kentucky in April.

Before suffering a season-ending injury, Quaintance was having a standout debut campaign. 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.

Despite coming off an ACL injury, Quaintance is widely projected to be a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. In June, ESPN’s NBA Draft expert Jonathan Givony raved about Quaintance’s potential.

“While Quaintance is quite raw from a skill perspective, particularly his jump shot, and has a lot to learn with his overall technique and ability to process the floor, his extreme youth for the college level earns him benefit of the doubt, and NBA scouts will be eager to see whether he can take another step forward after transferring to Kentucky,” Givony wrote. “He’ll have a major platform there to try to solidify himself as a lottery talent, but there’s a lot of refinement that has to happen before he’s NBA-ready.”

Evidently, Jayden Quaintance hasn’t been taking his opportunity for advantage this offseason. When Kentucky first listed heights and weights for its players this year, Quaintance was listed as 6-foot-9, 215 pounds. In its updated roster, Kentucky listed the former five-star prospect at 6-foot-10-and-a-half inches and 255 pounds.

Early this offseason, there was speculation that Quaintance would be fully recovered and ready to play in Kentucky’s season-opener on Nov. 4. Alas, as that deadline grows closer, it looks like fans may have to wait a bit longer to see Quaintance in action. In fairness, UK head coach Mark Pope tempered expectations for Quaintance’s return in a conversation with Matt Norlander.

“Listen, it’s really important that he gets a full recovery, so it’s gonna be a little while,” Pope said in August. “… I have every expectation that he will play this season. I don’t think he’s gonna play all the games this season, but we’ll see. He’s made great progress, and he’s kind of crossing off the benchmarks as he goes.”