Jayden Quaintance reportedly not yet cleared for non-contact activity

Jayden-Quaintance-believes-Kentucky-will-be-one-of-the-best-defensive-teams-in-2025-26 — Photo via UK Athletics

Jayden Quaintance still isn’t quite yet ready to return to live action.

According to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope told him that Quaintance has not been cleared for non-contact work, meaning he’s still restricted to off-court activity and is not participating in live settings.

This isn’t exactly surprising news, considering Quaintance is not even six full months removed from his ACL surgery back in March. However, it is notable that Kentucky is just under two months away from the season opener against Nicholls on Nov. 4. If Quaintance is not doing non-contact work at this time, it’s safe to assume he’s a ways away from actually suiting up and taking the floor.

Quaintance, who has apparently grown nearly two inches and added 40 pounds since transferring from Arizona State, tore the ACL in his right knee on February 23 and underwent surgery on March 19.

Kentucky's Jayden Quaintance (knee) has still not been cleared for non-contact work, per Mark Pope.

Transfer from Arizona State who averaged 9.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 2.6 BPG last season in 24 games prior to injury.

Wildcats open the 2025-26 season against Nicholls on 11/4.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 9, 2025

There was some hope during the offseason that Quaintance might be ready to go for the season-opener, but that always felt like a long shot. Pope even said in August that he doesn’t expect the 6-foot-10 forward to play in every game this season, but he does expect him to return and play for the Wildcats at some point, potentially in the non-conference.

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“Listen, it’s really important that he gets a full recovery, so it’s gonna be a little while,” Pope told Matt Norlander. “… 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.”

With that in mind, Pope wouldn’t rule out a return for Quaintance sometime in late November when pressed about it by Norlander. That would be over eight months post-surgery — a more realistic timeline for an injury of this severity. Quaintance, who only recently turned 18 years old, is a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.