Jayden Quaintance is now doing 3-on-3 drills (and an injury update on Mo Dioubate)

On November 21, Mark Pope said Jayden Quaintance had started doing ‘two-on-two live drills’ in practice — “making real progress,” as he put it. Just three days later, he’s upped it to three-on-three drills at the Joe Craft Center.

At this rate, we may be two media appearances away from the second-year coach confirming his prized portal addition is full-go with five-on-five. The math checks out on that, right?

Kidding, obviously, but Pope was serious when he said real progress was being made. During his first call-in radio show of the year on Monday, he confirmed Quaintance had taken the next step toward his return to game action and debut as a Wildcat.

“So we’re in a staff meeting talking about doing three-on-three drills — but just a snap punch drill, and including JQ,” Pope said. “So we have to still monitor with — there’s still a safety protocol with him when he’s doing any type of almost live action. He’ll be going against our GAs, so I looked at (Brian Fitzpatrick) and Willis (Mackey Jr.), and I was like, ‘Hey, which one of you can I trust to handle JQ with gloves in the post?’ And both of them were kind of pale, and neither one of them wanted the assignment at all. Not because they worried about hurting him, but because they worried about getting hurt.

“But he was in three-on-three today. It was the first time he’s done some three-on-three. So he’s making steady progress.”

Mo Dioubate ‘still got a ways to go’ — but was a loose practice participant

As for Mo Dioubate, who hurt his ankle at the end of the Michigan State loss and missed the Loyola (Md.) win, it doesn’t appear that he’s gonna be ready to go against Tennessee Tech on Wednesday.

Pope said that while he was a loose participant in practice on Monday, he still has work to do to be ready to play. Maybe a Thanksgiving break is best for the junior forward?

“Mo was coaching again today, and he shot free throws. He coached and shot free throws,” he said. “We tested him last night. He’s still got a ways to go, but he was at practice, participating as much as he could.”