Jayden Quaintance (born July 11, 2007) is an American

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player currently playing for the University of Kentucky Wildcats.

Early life and high school

Quaintance grew up in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. He moved to

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

before the start of high school and enrolled at Hillcrest Prep. Quaintance transferred again to Word of God Christian Academy in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

before his sophomore year. He also reclassified from the class of 2025 to 2024. Quaintance was selected to play in the

2024 McDonald's All-American Boys Game The 2024 McDonald's All-American Boys Game was an all-star basketball game played on April 2, 2024, at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The game's rosters featured the best and most highly recruited high school boys graduating in the class of 202 ...

during his senior year.

Recruiting

Quaintance was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2024 class, according to major recruiting services. He committed to play college basketball at Kentucky over offers from Missouri, Florida, South Florida, and Ohio State. Quaintance signed a

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

(NLI) to play for the Wildcats on November 15, 2023, during the early signing period. However, he requested a release from his NLI on April 10, 2024, shortly after Kentucky head coach

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (; born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2 ...

left the program to become the head coach at

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. On April 29, 2024, Quaintance announced his commitment to

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

College

Quaintance played one season with Arizona State, playing 24 games and averaging 9.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. In February 2025, he injured his knee and missed the remainder of the season. He had knee surgery on March 19. Following the season, he entered the

transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is in ...

. He later announced he would transfer to Kentucky, where he had originally committed to play his freshman year.

National team career

Quaintance played for the United States national under-16 team at the 2023

FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship The FIBA Under-16 AmeriCup, previously known as the FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship, is the Americas basketball championship for men's under-16 national teams that takes place every two years in the FIBA Americas zone. The inaugural edition ...

. He averaged 6.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in six games as the United States won the gold medal.

Personal life

Quaintance's father, Haminn Quaintance, played college basketball at Jacksonville and Kent State.

References

External links

Arizona State Sun Devils bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quaintance, Jayden 2007 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball players Basketball players from Cleveland McDonald's High School All-Americans Power forwards Word of God Christian Academy alumni