The college basketball transfer portal continues to spin rapidly day by day. On Monday, Bobby Hurley and the Arizona State basketball program landed a huge commitment from five-star recruit Jayden Quaintance, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
‘Major commitment on a potential 2026 NBA Draft lottery pick: Jayden Quaintance – a 16-year old ranked as the No. 2 center in ESPN’s Top 100 prospects — will sign with the Arizona State Sun Devils, he tells ESPN. He recently de-committed from Kentucky.’
He is one of the top-ranked recruits in the Class of 2024 and now joins the Sun Devils in a bit of a surprising turn of events. The reason why he chose to come to the desert had a lot to do with Bobby Hurley, as Quaintance’s father mentioned (h/t Eric Bossi of 247Sports).
“Arizona State, Arizona State it is,” Quaintance’s father told 247Sports. “It was all Coach (Bobby) Hurley. When I first talked to him we really clicked and then when Jayden got to talk to him they really clicked. Arizona State, Arizona State it is. It was all Coach (Bobby) Hurley. When I first talked to him we really clicked and then when Jayden got to talk to him they really clicked.”
Quaintance was committed to Kentucky before asking for his NLI release right after the news of John Calipari’s departure. Now, he ends up choosing to play for Arizona State as the Sun Devils make the transition to the Big 12 Conference in 2024.
Arizona State basketball continues to load up
Bobby Hurley continues to add huge transfer portal pieces as they are preparing for the new chapter in the Big 12. On Sunday, they brought in Milwaukee transfer BJ Freeman, who averaged 21.1 PPG with more than six rebounds and four assists this past season. They have also added Alston Mason Alston Mason from Missouri State and Basheer Jihad from Ball State.
Austin Nunez, a former four-star recruit who was previously with the Arizona State basketball program, returned to the Sun Devils after spending last year with Ole Miss. So, Hurley has added a handful of transfers to this upcoming roster as they try to turn things around following a disappointing 14-17 record in the final year of the current Pac-12 model.
Amier Ali, Sammie Yeanay, Bo Aldridge and Jaden Smith are other incoming players as part of the recruiting class for Arizona State. But, there is no doubt Quaintance is the biggest get of them all. He was named a McDonald’s All-American and was part of the Jordan Brand Classic and Nike Hoop Summit.
Quaintance is already talked about as a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, so Hurley and the Arizona State basketball program landing a premier talent is a massive step in the right direction.
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