The return of Jayden Quaintance is inching closer as Kentucky basketball awaits the debut of its star transfer from Arizona State.
On Thursday, head coach Mark Pope revealed that Quaintance is now taking
part in 5-on-0 work during practice.
”He’s unbelievable,“ Pope said of Quaintance. He’s been increasingly ahead of schedule, and he’s now jumping in on some 5-on-0 stuff with us on the floor. He’s just been cleared to do that, so he’s racing up and down the floor a little bit, doing stuff with no contact.
“He’s on his way.”
Pope added that there’s an important strength test Quaintance will take in the coming weeks to determine if he’s ready for full contact practice.
“We have one more really, really important strength test that will come up here…I think three weeks from right now. His (Quaintance) asymmetry is almost negligible. It’s pretty incredible, so we’ll put him through that and see where he goes,” said Pope.
“The work he’s put in has been just really inspiring. He’s moving on the court really well right now.”
Ever since Quaintance committed to Kentucky in April, the realistic hope has been that he’d be back sometime in late November or early December. It’s now looking more like December will be when he makes his return, though it remains to be seen when exactly that debut will come.
Ideally, Kentucky will have Quaintance back for a few games before SEC play begins. Not to mention it would be extremely helpful to have him back for at least one of those major December battles with schools like Indiana (December 13) and/or St. John’s (December 20).
For now, my guess is that Quaintance is back by the December 23 game vs. Bellarmine to get his feet wet before opening SEC play on January 3 at Alabama, one of the biggest conference matchups of the 2026 SEC season.
Below, you can hear Pope’s full comments on Quaintance and his impending return.
