Kentucky’s Jayden Quaintance hits another milestone. ‘He’s making real progress’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Mark Pope reports Jayden Quaintance progressing through on‑court rehab drills.
- He participated in 2‑on‑2 live work and has started dunking in practice.
- UK’s top NBA prospect, Quaintance likely weeks from debut
Jayden Quaintance is still likely weeks away from his first basketball game as a Kentucky Wildcat.
But coach Mark Pope sure made it sound like Quaintance is getting closer with his comments following UK’s 88-46 victory over Loyola (Maryland) on Friday night.
On his postgame radio show, Pope was asked if there was anything new on the status of Quaintance, who had surgery for a torn ACL in March and has been recovering from that injury since joining the Wildcats for the 2025-26 season.
Pope didn’t reveal a potential timeline for the sophomore big man’s UK debut, but he did offer up a fairly detailed account of what Quaintance has been up to on the court lately.
First, he threw out a teaser to the Kentucky fans who stuck around for the postgame show.
“Guys, if I opened up Rupp Arena to watch JQ just dunk the ball after our practice is over, it’s insanity,” Pope said. “You know how you know that? Because he was here for 20 minutes after practice yesterday — we had a pretty hard practice yesterday — and all the guys were just sitting there egging him on. He is an impressive human being. Like, it’s impressive. So he’s making real progress.”
Quaintance, who is projected as a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA draft, still has not been cleared for 5-on-5 practice, but the 6-foot-10 forward has been a presence for those sessions. He’s also been shooting 3-pointers and going through ball-handling drills on the court before recent games.
He’s been dunking the ball in practice for weeks now, so Pope’s comment about what he was up to after Thursday’s practice wasn’t exactly earth-shattering news. That update came a little later.
“I think I’m allowed to say this, because I’m the head coach. I can say whatever I want,” Pope said. “He was actually in 2-on-2 live drills vs. scout team yesterday for the first time ever. And I almost had a heart attack because I thought he just snuck into the drill.”
Pope claimed he yelled over to head athletic trainer Brandon Wells when he saw Quaintance out on the court with his teammates.
“But he was like, ‘No, he’s good.’ ... So he’s making terrific, terrific progress,” Pope said.
That’s a positive development for the player who is clearly Kentucky’s top NBA draft prospect. Quaintance averaged 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game as a freshman at Arizona State — playing the entire season at just 17 years old — and his rare mix of power and athleticism made him one of the most coveted players in the transfer portal during the offseason. He has the potential to be one of the best defensive players in college basketball this season and has shown up on several national awards watch lists despite his injury status.
Pope said Nov. 6 that Quaintance was scheduled for a “really, really important strength test” in about three weeks and indicated that test would serve as a marker for taking another major step in his recovery.
The timeline would have Quaintance taking that strength test sometime next week.
Brandon Garrison had been UK’s starting center to begin the season, though freshman Malachi Moreno made his first start as a Wildcat in the win over Loyola on Friday night. That switch — after Garrison started the first five games of the season — came with starting forward Mouhamed Dioubate sidelined with an ankle injury.
Pope shuffled his starting five as a result, pairing Moreno and 6-8 guard Kam Williams with Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler and Otega Oweh, who have been the Cats’ normal starting backcourt with point guard Jaland Lowe also out due to injury.
Kentucky will return to the court Wednesday with a home game against Tennessee Tech. After that, the Wildcats will play two marquee opponents: North Carolina in Rupp Arena on Dec. 2 and Gonzaga in Nashville on Dec. 5.
It’s not expected that Quaintance will be back on the court for any of those games, but he could be getting closer to his first appearance in a Kentucky uniform.
