Arizona State Star. Commits to Kentucky Wildcats, Vows to Make Florida ‘Pay…
Arizona State Star. Commits to Kentucky Wildcats, Vows to Make Florida 'Pay... As the No. 6 overall transfer available in the 247Sports rankings, Arizona State star Jayden Quaintance—possibly the best NBA Draft prospect to ever enter the transfer portal—committed to Mark Pope and Kentucky on Tuesday, according to 247Sports' Eric Bossi. Quaintance is a possible top-five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Quaintance underwent surgery to repair a ruptured ACL in his right knee on March 19 and is anticipated to be cleared for contact in September. A former Kentucky signee, Quaintance originally signed to play for John Calipari at the school but backed off that pledge after the former UK coach took the vacant job at Arkansas last offseason. The former No. 9 overall player in the 2024 recruiting cycle by 247Sports committed shortly after to Arizona State and became the highest-ranked recruit in its program's history. Quaintance is not eligible for the 2025 NBA Draft because he will not be 18 until July. Quaintance is able to play two seasons in college since NBA regulations require a player to be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. What makes Quaintance unique is that he would be a surefire top-10 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft if he were eligible. Quaintance averaged 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks while being the youngest player in Division l basketball. He would've been the third-youngest player in last week's McDonald's All-American Game had he stayed in his original recruiting class. If Quaintance is healthy for the start of the 2025-26 season, he has a strong case as the best player available in the transfer portal. Pope had to replace the entire roster at UK after Calipari left for the vacant job at Arkansas last spring. Pope assembled a balanced roster, which helped the program get out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. Adding Quaintance changes the game.





