LOOK: Jayden Quaintance is doing just fine in his ACL recovery

Will Jayden Quaintance be ready for the start of the regular season? Or at least November? Mark Pope called it “maybe-ish,” saying the first three weeks of training to start fall practice would help the program nail down a realistic timeline for return following the Arizona State transfer’s surgery to repair a torn ACL back in March.  

“It’s the first time we get to hit strength training head-on,” Pope said in August. “He’s still not doing anything live-ish or even close to it, but we’re really going strength heavy, heavy, heavy over the next three weeks. We’ll see how these three weeks go.”

Well, here we are in early September, now on the tail end of that window and a month away from Big Blue Madness. How are things going for Quaintance, who grew two inches and gained 40 pounds this summer? Pope confirmed he still hasn’t been cleared for non-contact activities, leading to some fan panic with the start of the regular season just under two months away.

Before we get too carried away worrying about his long-term availability, though, may I offer a counterpoint? The eye test may calm your nerves a bit.

Quaintance is running, jumping, lifting and squatting just fine in this ramp-up period as we inch closer to the season — and the early feedback is that he continues to be ahead of schedule six months removed from surgery.

See for yourself:

Worried about Jayden Quaintance? Don’t be.

The future lottery pick is doing just fine.

LOOK: https://t.co/ebh2dO79An pic.twitter.com/CbKYsqLa9q

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) September 9, 2025

He may not be tipping off the season for the Wildcats, but I’m not putting my money on an extended absence dragging into the early months of 2026.

“Listen, it’s really important that he gets a full recovery, so it’s gonna be a little while,” Pope said of Quaintance’s return timeline in August. “… 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.”

Whether it’s November or the start of SEC play in January, Pope is giddy thinking of the possibilities with his projected top-five pick in February, March and, hopefully, early April — especially on the defensive end of the floor.

“As a 16-year-old, playing last year in the Big 12 — which was a good conference — he was one of the leading shot blockers in the country,” he said. “… This guy is a physical specimen like you’ve never seen before.”

He’s getting there, folks. Slowly but surely.