Kentucky basketball's Jayden Quaintance declares for NBA draft

LEXINGTON — Jayden Quaintance's short career with the Kentucky basketball is over.

It's just briefer than anyone around the Wildcats had hoped.

As expected, the 6-foot-10, 255-pound sophomore forward on April 14 declared for the NBA draft.

Recovering from an ACL injury that ended his freshman season at Arizona State in February 2025, Quaintance appeared in only four games for UK and coach Mark Pope before departing Lexington. Despite his lack of court time during the 2025-26 season, Quaintance's potential as a rim protector, as well as his youth — he doesn't turn 19 until July — have him projected as a lottery pick in this year's draft.

He leaves Kentucky having averaged 5 points and 5 rebounds a game.

Quaintance showcased his game-altering talent in his debut Dec. 20 in Atlanta, when UK faced St. John's (and former coach Rick Pitino) in the CBS Sports Classic. In 17 minutes off the bench, Quaintance tallied 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in a 78-66 Kentucky victory at State Farm Arena.

But that was as good as it got for Quaintance and the Cats.

In his next three outings — against Bellarmine, Alabama and Missouri — he combined for only 10 points, 12 rebounds and one block. Quaintance never took the floor again after that Jan. 7 loss to the Tigers.

He committed to UK as a transfer in April 2025. It marked the second time in his career he'd cast his lot with the Wildcats; he also pledged to the program in November 2023. But after ex-UK coach John Calipari disembarked for Arkansas, Quaintance was released from his letter of intent. He wound up with the Sun Devils, where he was the most highly acclaimed signee in school history.

Before his freshman campaign ended prematurely, Quaintance engineered a stout season, earning spots on the Big 12's All-Defensive Team as well as the All-Freshman Team after averaging 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. He led the league in blocks per game and would have finished among the top 10 in Division I in that department had he met the minimum qualification requirements.

The Ohio native was a consensus five-star prospect in the 2024 class according to the four major recruiting databases: Rivals, 247Sports, ESPN and On3. He didn't rank lower than 16th nationally in any of the four services' rankings. Per the 247Sports Composite, Quaintance was the No. 9 recruit in the 2024 cycle. He was the No. 2 center (behind Duke's Khaman Maluach).

This story may be updated.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball's Jayden Quaintance declares for NBA Draft 2026