Kentucky’s top-10 NBA Draft prospect transfer portal addition is a perfect fit with Mark Pope

Born in 2007, Jayden Quaintance arrived at Arizona State so early that he wasn’t eligible for the NBA Draft after his Big 12 All-Defensive Team performance as a freshman for Bobby Hurley’s Sun Devils. Despite having a hyper-athletic 6-foot-9 defensive anchor, ASU struggled mightily to the tune of a 4-16 conference record last season, so before he finally makes the jump to the league as a potential top-10 pick in the loaded 2026 NBA Draft class, Quaintance wanted a change of scenery to aid in his development. 

Now, the 17-year-old who won’t turn 18 until midway through the summer, has landed with an SEC contender, choosing Mark Pope’s Kentucky Wildcats, and whoever is advising Quaintance through this process absolutely nailed the destination. Quatainance is a perfect fit with the Wildcats and will maximize his draft stock in Lexington next season. 

Kentucky lands former 5-star Jayden Quaintance from Arizona State

At 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, Quaintance has the ideal size to play college center, but the biggest concern amongst NBA scouts is that he’s ultimately an NBA skill-set trapped in a power forward’s body. Quaintance isn’t a shooter, but in Mark Pope’s motion-heavy four-out system, he won’t need to be. The lengthy big man can lean into all of his strengths in Lexington and rise up draft boards as he makes the Wildcats a potential national title contender. 

When Kerr Kriisa, Lamont Butler, and Jaxson Robinson were all out with injuries for Kentucky this past season, 7-foot center Amari Williams played de-facto point guard, spraying the ball out to movement shooters from the high post or the top of the key. Quaintance isn’t quite that level of playmaker, but his 10.8 percent assist rate in a dysfunctional ASU offense is impressive. 

Quaintance understands rotations which allows him to pass out of double-teams and the short-roll to find shooters and cutters at the rim. That strength will be maximized with Pope, as will his effectiveness as a driver. He’s a surprisingly competent ball-handler for a 17-year-old with a plus-six-inch wingspan. 

Kentucky’s spacing with the addition of Kam Williams – a 6-foot-8 wing from Tulane who shot well over 40% from beyond the arc on almost five attempts a game as a freshman – and the return of Otega Oweh, Colin Chandler, and Trent Noah, will leave Qutainance with a multitude of isolation opportunities either facing up from the mid-post or simply using his quickness to his advantage against clumsier SEC centers from the top of the key. 

Ultimately, he’s best offensive as a rangy rim-runner off ball-screens and in transition, but every other element of Quaintance’s game will shine with the Wildcats. That’s without mentioning that Arizona State was 17.1 points per 100 possessions better defensively with Quaintance on the floor a season ago (per CBBanalytics.com). He’s a true defensive anchor and that end of the floor is where most of his value will show up. 

Along with Quaintance and Kam Williams, Pope has added Jaland Lowe a dynamic downhill guard who is more of a theoretical shooter from Pitt, and Mouhamed Diobate an athletic wing with size from Alabama. Kentucky’s roster for Year 2 of the Pope era is coming together and it's obvious that the former five-star center will be a huge part of it.