Jayden Quaintance named to Watch List for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award

Kentucky forward Jayden Quaintance at Big Blue Madness - Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

Kentucky has one of the best centers in college basketball sitting on the bench, just waiting to be thrown into the fire once cleared from injury. Jayden Quaintance, a sophomore transfer from Arizona State, has been named to the preseason watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Friday.

He’s one of 20 players listed as candidates for the prestigious Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, recognizing the top center in college basketball annually since its inception in 2015. National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe was the recipient of the honor in 2022.

Quaintance is one of four SEC players on the list, joining Arkansas’ Malique Ewin, Florida’s Alex Condon and Tennessee’s Felix Okpara.

A former five-star recruit who originally signed with Kentucky under John Calipari, then backed out of his pledge to play at Arizona State as a freshman, started all 24 games in which he played for the Sun Devils. There, he averaged 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.5 assists per game while connecting on 52.5% of his field goals en route to Big 12 All-Freshman Team and Big 12 All-Defensive Team honors. He set the Arizona State freshman record for total blocked shots (63) and rebounds per game (7.9) before going down with a torn ACL. Quaintance was the only player in the country to reach a combined 90 steals and blocks in fewer than 25 games and tallied 11 double-figure scoring performances with six double-doubles.

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“The thing I’m excited about is every time I look out of my office window, twice a day, three times a day, I see him down on the court in a full sweat,” Mark Pope said of the 6’10.5″ center. “He’s still a little bit of ways [away], but he’s doing great.”

Quaintance is not the only Wildcat to earn preseason honors — or even join any watch lists for the Naismith Hall of Fame’s positional awards, for that matter. Jaland Lowe was one of 20 candidates for the Bob Cousy Award, while Otega Oweh was selected to the Jerry West preseason watch list.

Fans can participate in voting for each of the three rounds starting today, followed by the lists being narrowed down to 10 in late January, then five in February. From there, winners will be announced at a to-be-determined date.

Congrats, JQ! Get back to game action soon — the Cats sure could’ve used you this week.