Bobby Hurley has high hopes for ASU five-star recruit Jayden Quaintance, believes his ceiling is ‘scary’

It’s not every day that a college basketball program can bring in a five-star recruit who can change the trajectory of how far the team can go but for ASU to snap up Jayden Quaintance, he is projected to be a game-changer in the Sun Devils’ first year in the Big 12 Conference.

After originally signing a National Letter of Intent (NLI) with Kentucky on Nov. 15, 2023, he requested to be released from the agreement on April 10 this year and committed to ASU. Quaintance made the switch due to now-former Wildcats head coach John Calipari departing from Kentucky and taking the same job at Arkansas.

Even though he just turned 17 years old this summer, Quaintance reclassified from the high school class of 2025 to 2024 and will be a Sun Devil a year early. The 6-foot-9 big man will most likely have to spend two years in college before being eligible to declare for the 2026 NBA Draft because of his age.

With this in mind, ASU men’s basketball coach Bobby Hurley stated that Quaintance can be exceptional due to his frame, his maneuverability and how he plays the game.

“Jayden Quaintance’s ceiling is scary,” Hurley said. “You look at him and you think of a physical, rugged type of player that is going to play with his back to the basket. He’s more like a point guard than he is a center. He’s 6-foot-9, he’s got really good footwork, he can dribble the ball, he gets low, he can pass the ball, he’s one of our best passers for a big guy. He just does a lot of things, very advanced for someone that just turned 17 in July. We have high hopes for him but the reality is he is 17 and still learning the game. He’ll keep getting better as this year goes on. It’s scary what he can be as he keeps developing as a player.”

Quaintance is familiar with the Valley as he moved from Cleveland, Ohio, to Phoenix before high school and played his freshman year at one of the top basketball programs in Arizona, Hillcrest Prep. He was also enrolled at Dream City Christian in Glendale.

For a third time, he would transfer again but go out-of-state to North Carolina, attending Word of God Christian Academy this past season.

Two summers ago, he won a gold medal as a member of Team USA Basketball at the 2023 FIBA U16 Americas Championship. In six games, he averaged 6.7 points and 6.5 rebounds during the tournament in Mexico.

As a five-star recruit out of high school, Quaintance is the Sun Devils’ highest-ranked commit since Miami Heat guard Josh Christopher back in 2020.

Quaintance and fellow five-star recruit Joson Sanon are projected to be a dynamic duo for Hurley and ASU this year. Sanon, regarded as one of the top guard recruits in the country, was a University of Arizona commit before he flipped to Arizona State in the offseason.

With Quaintance, Sanon, transfers BJ Freeman (Milwaukee), Basheer Jihad (Ball State) and Alston Mason (Missouri State), the Sun Devils will look to make some noise in one of the best basketball conferences in the nation, the Big 12.

ASU officially begins the 2024-25 season on Oct. 27 when they face Hurley’s alma mater Duke in the ‘Brotherhood Run’ Charity Exhibition Game in Durham, N.C., with all proceeds going to Duke Children’s Hospital. Arizona State’s first conference game in the Big 12 will be on Dec. 31 at BYU.