Jayden Quaintance:The reason I decided to join Kentucky Basketball is that I’ve never felt this happy before…
Using the transfer portal, a former high school commit from the UK chooses the Wildcats once more.
In the case of Kentucky basketball, the old is new again. A player who had previously committed and signed a contract to play collegiate basketball at Kentucky after high school was picked up by the Wildcats on Tuesday morning via the NCAA transfer portal.
During the 2024–25 season, he was also the youngest player in NCAA basketball. Quaintance, a 17-year-old who played for the Sun Devils past season, was reclassified from the 2025 to the 2024 high school recruiting group. One of the best prospects for the 2026 NBA draft is Quaintance.
Arizona State finished the previous season 4-16 in Big 12 games and 13-20 overall. In terms of steals, blocks, and rebounds, Quaintance led the Sun Devils. For the Sun Devils, he made a meager 18.8% of 3-pointers and shot 52.5% from the field.
Prior to this, Quaintance was a member of the six-player 2024 high school recruiting class that former UK head coach John Calipari put together in Lexington. Quaintance and four other players from that recruiting group decided not to attend Kentucky following Calipari’s coaching shift to Pope last offseason.
