Kentucky is inching closer to adding a major piece to its frontcourt puzzle. After weeks of limited drills and controlled competition, Jayden Quaintance has officially cleared his final strength test — and Mark Pope says the Wildcats’ star transfer “crushed it.”
What began as simple 1-on-1 and 2-on-2 work has quickly escalated. Now, the future NBA lottery pick is getting full-court, full-contact 5-on-5 reps. The only catch? He isn’t going against his teammates just yet.
Instead, he’s spending his time overpowering graduate assistants and a handful of unlucky rec center players picked up from the Johnson Center. They’re the warm-up before Kentucky unleashes him on its own roster.
“He killed it. He crushed it,” Pope said of the strength test — something he previously emphasized as one of the last major hurdles before Quaintance could fully rejoin team activities. “We’re working him back into parts of practice. He still can’t be a full scout team body, we’re not going to let him do that yet.”
The coaching staff is taking a cautious approach. They won’t risk any setback that could delay his long-awaited debut in Kentucky blue.
“He’s actually played in some full-court 5-on-5 with our GAs. We grabbed a couple kids from the rec center and I think he had a lot of fun with that yesterday,” Pope added. “He felt pretty good.”
Every session brings Quaintance closer to game action — and the Wildcats desperately need the boost. Three high-profile matchups have slipped away already, and defensive presence in the paint has been glaringly absent.
The 6’10.5″, 255-pound forward was a force as a freshman at Arizona State, earning Big 12 All-Freshman and All-Defensive honors while averaging 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, and 1.5 assists. Kentucky hasn’t seen that full version of him yet in practice, but his teammates know exactly what kind of help is coming.
Andrija Jelavic called him a “simple” player — but in the best way.
“When he sees the rim, he’s going to dunk the ball. When he sees the ball on defense, he’s going to block it,” Jelavic said. “That’s something we really need right now. Simple, aggressive plays — especially on the defensive end.”
Jelavic added that Quaintance’s physical presence alone changes everything.
“He’s really big — not just tall or strong, his presence is big. I think that’s going to help us a lot on defense, just from the fear aspect. I think he’s going to be a really big part of this team.”
Kentucky’s frontcourt could use that intimidation factor immediately. And fortunately for the Wildcats, they’re now only a handful of steps away.
“He’s on his way back,” Pope said. “It’s just about being smart and hyper-cautious and putting him in a great position. He’s been making really good progress.”
One step closer — and not many remaining.
