Jayden Quaintance believes Kentucky will be one of the best defensive teams in 2025-26

Five-star forward Jayden Quaintance originally committed to play for Kentucky and head coach John Calipari last season, but re-opened his recruitment and re-routed to Arizona State following the departure of Calipari to Arkansas. Now back in Lexington after just one season in Tempe, Quaintance is very excited for this season’s Wildcat squad.

Quaintance dominated the Big 12 last season as a freshman, averaging 9.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks before he suffered a torn ACL against Kansas State on Feb. 23. He was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team and All-Freshman Team for his efforts.

His transfer to Kentucky, along with the players returning and coming in through the Transfer Portal, has the Raleigh, NC native making big claims about the team’s defense.

“I feel like we could be one of the best defensive teams in the country,” Quaintance said. “We have a really long team. We’re full of height and length on our team and everybody’s buying in. We have people pushing full court and guarding full court. We have people in the backcourt in gaps, in help and in rotation. I feel like we have a really good chance to be great defensively.”

Kentucky allowed second most PPG in SEC last season

The sophomore will not open the season in Kentucky‘s rotation due to the injury, but Mark Pope‘s team boasts some other strong defenders in Alabama transfer forward Mo Dioubate, returning forward Brandon Garrison, returning All-SEC guard Otega Oweh and incoming freshman center Malachi Moreno. Dioubate, who is extremely familiar with Kentucky as his Alabama team won all three games against the ‘Cats last season, shares a similar sentiment as Quaintance.

“I think this is probably gonna be one of the best defensive team’s Kentucky‘s seen in a while,” he said earlier this offseason. “We got guys like (Jayden Quaintance) and he hasn’t even played yet. Like, just knowing what he can do, and he’s not even practiced yet, that’s scary. Guys like me and Otega [Oweh] take pride in defense, so I feel like that’s something that the team needs and stuff like that. I feel like this is gonna be a real good year defensively for us. I don’t think that’s gonna be one of the liabilities we have.”

Kentucky‘s defense was poor last season, as it allowed 77.2 points per game (second-to-last in the SEC) and allowed its opponents to shoot 43.7% from the field (eighth best in SEC). With a strong core of returning players and incoming players however, the ‘Cats certainly seem poised to bolster their defense in a big way this season.