Five-star big man Jayden Quaintance is a Kentucky Wildcat. The 6-foot-10 native of Ohio, who plays at Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God, committed to John Calipari and Big Blue Nation on Tuesday. As a result, Kentucky will move up to No. 2 in the 247Sports Composite Team Rankings and should still be adding more pieces to a growing 2024 recruiting effort.
Quaintance's father Haminn Quaintance confirmed the commitment with 247Sports and said that the family liked the vision that Calipari and his staff had for his son.
"We really liked the vision they had for Jayden and the direction for his future," the elder Quaintance said. "We like their plan for his development and for getting him ready to take the next step."
Ranked No. 9 overall in the class of 2024, Quaintance is the type of big-man prospect who is made to succeed in today's game where bigs have to be versatile and skilled. Not only does he have tremendous size and length, he's already a pretty chiseled 230 pounds and easily carries that weight with more room to add on. He can step outside and make jumpers, he has low post game and and he is a high-flying finisher around the rim. He looks every bit the part of a one-and-done prospect — except that he isn't.
Quaintance is still only 16 years old and recently reclassified from the class of 2025. Due to his youth and the NBA Draft rule that a player must be a year removed from high school and turn 19 during the year he is drafted, Quaintance won't be draft eligible until the summer of 2026, meaning that he's locked into two years of college ball.
Previously, Quaintance has said that he feels very comfortable with the move from 2025 to 2024.
“I feel confident in my decision,” Quaintance told 247Sports. “I’ve been playing up forever in the summer. And in high school, it is all classes. So, you are always playing the best regardless of class. So, I don’t think it changes much it is just going to get me to the college level a little faster.”
Now that he's committed, Quaintance is headliner of a recruiting class that is looking more and more stacked by the day. Combo guard Boogie Fland is a composite five-star prospect, big man Somto Cyril is a physically intimidating athlete and over the weekend they landed local star Travis Perry who has already shattered the Kentucky state scoring record and should end up one of the top 10 scorers in high school basketball history.
Even with Quaintance on board, Calipari and the Cats aren't done either. Top-25 wing Billy Richmond has yet to announce and Kentucky appears to be the heavy favorites for the athletic wing out of New Jersey.
A commitment from Richmond could be coming sooner than later. But for today, all of the attention is on what should be a two-year addition of one of the most talented big men in all of high school basketball.