Jasper Johnson called Mark Pope in an effort to land Jayden Quaintance through the portal

Photo of Jasper Johnson (left) via Dylan Ballard, A Sea of Blue | Photo of Jayden Quaintance via Marissa Gilchrist, UK Athletics

Bringing Jayden Quaintance to Lexington was a full team effort for the Kentucky Wildcats.

We’ve heard Quaintance share his side of the story a few times since he committed to UK in the transfer portal after one season at Arizona State. A pair of Kentucky’s incoming freshmen, Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno, played a significant role in convincing the projected NBA lottery pick to choose the ‘Cats. Johnson and Quaintance even played AAU basketball together a couple of summers ago for Team Thad on the Nike EYBL circuit.

“(Johnson) was just talking to me, trying to get in my ear, talk about returning to Kentucky, and he was a big part of my decision to commit here,” Quaintance said during his media appearance earlier this month.

Mark Pope sealed the deal in the end, but it might not have gotten to a point of serious mutual interest had it not been for Johnson’s prior relationship with Quaintance. During his official media debut as a Wildcat on Thursday, Johnson shared a few more details about how he helped bring Quaintance to Kentucky, which started with a phone call to his head coach.

“Jayden’s a freak athlete,” Johnson said. “He’s one of those players that can do anything on the court. Pass, shoot, dribble, block shots, communicate. I’ve played with him in the past, so I know what he’s capable of.

“I remember after I committed (to Kentucky), I was just sitting in my room on the game actually, and he had texted me or something. I was like dang, I gotta call Coach Pope to see if we can try to land this kid, because I know he’s a special talent.”

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Johnson’s recruiting pitch paid off in the end. After spending his freshman season at Arizona State as a 17-year-old, Quaintance hopped into the transfer portal and committed to Kentucky back in April. Landing the skilled 6-foot-9 forward was a notable moment for Pope and Co. The majority of 2026 NBA mock drafts have Quiantaince going among the top 10 picks. After making Big 12 All-Defense in 2024-25, he has potential to be the best defensive player in all of college basketball next season.

He’ll have to get healthy first, though. As most know by now, Quaintance tore his ACL in late February and had surgery in mid-March. The hope is to have him back on the floor early into the 2025-26 campaign, but there isn’t an exact timeline for a return at this time.

When he does make his way back to the hardwood, though, Kentucky’s ceiling will skyrocket — he’s that kind of special talent.

“Like I said on the defensive said, if I’m struggling on defense or somebody misses an assignment, I know Jayden is down there,” Johnson said. “When he gets healthy he can easily block this shot, push the break, he’s an athletic freak. He’s definitely a guy that I love to have on my team.”