Mark Pope doesn't 'think there's a chance' he could keep Jayden Quaintance from playing this season

It’s become a matter of when, not if, Kentucky gets Jayden Quaintance on the hardwood during the 2025-26 season. Wildcats head coach Mark Pope has continued to praise Quaintance’s ACL rehab efforts throughout the offseason. Now that the season is almost here, his thinking hasn’t changed: Quaintance is fully expected to play.

“I’m not sure exactly how long the wait is,” Pope said Tuesday at SEC Media Days. “I don’t think there’s a chance we could keep (Quaintance) from playing this season. I think he’s too excited, too talented, worked too hard to get back. He’s going to be really special.”

Quaintance is nearing the seven-month mark since undergoing surgery on March 19. A typical ACL recovery can take as few as nine months for top-end athletes, although it can often be the case that it takes longer for a player to fully feel like their old selves again. The nine-month mark for JQ would be around the middle of December, right before the start of SEC play in the new year. Pope has seen the 6-foot-9 Quaintance, who only turned 18 years old in July, progress at an impressive rate.

“With him, he is racing back to health at light speed right now. It is remarkable what he’s doing. We’re all kind of shaking our heads and feeling like, how is this humanly possible?” Pope said. “Feels like he’s on the verge of being ready to go, and we’re just hitting the brakes full-time right now to make sure because his future is going to be incredibly bright in this game.”

Pope has stressed not wanting to push Quaintance back too early. There is too much at stake for the big man’s long-term career to do so. Balancing that line has been a challenging test, but one that the UK staff believes it’s passing. After all, it’s hard not to dream about what this Kentucky team could look like with Quaintance, a projected top-five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, in the rotation.

His teammates might be the most excited about what JQ can bring to the table once he does return to action.

“We’re so good right now, and we don’t even have one of the best bigs in the country,” SEC Preseason Player of the Year Otega Oweh said of Quiantance. “I see Jayden every single day but I know how eager and how excited he is to go out there. He just genuinely loves basketball. When you have a guy like that, you just know he’s always ready to go. Whether he’s on the court, whether he’s not, he’s always gonna be supportive, rooting on his teammates. But once we get him back, it’s going to be very, very scary.”

“Jayden’s working very hard to get back,” Denzel Aberdeen added. “He’s always dribbling the basketball, everywhere he goes. He’s someone that loves the game of basketball, loves being around it. And he’s been in and out of the treatment room, doing what he has to do to get back fast. From 7 AM, he doesn’t leave until about 6-7 PM.”

It’s only a matter of time…

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