Jayden Quaintance leaning on Brandon Garrison while learning Kentucky's system

Jayden Quaintance suffered an ACL injury in February when playing at Arizona State. Now at Kentucky, he's using his rehab to absorb all kinds of knowledge about how Mark Pope runs his system while he is forced to sit on the sidelines and watch. Quaintance is able to watch from a different perspective instead of in the action.

Kentucky big man Brandon Garrison has become a learning tool for Quaintance, as he is heading into his second year playing under Pope. So far, he is teaching the 6-10 big man the ropes, who Quaintance says he sees playing a similar role as once he returns from injury.

"I’ve been watching film and doing things that way, so that’s been another way that I’ve been learning, but watching from the sideline, just seeing what guys are doing, just visually, I feel like that’s really helped me memorize some of the things. And being able to picture what I’ll be able to do, or where I’ll be at during those steps, has been very helpful and impactful for me. ...They’ve been showing me a lot of film on BG, just kind of how he’s able to space the floor, be outside the three-point line, catch and shoot, shots, make passes, things of that nature."Quaintance on learning Pope's system.

As Brandon Garrison looks to take a big step in year two under Pope, Quaintance is looking to follow in his steps. With Quaintance having such a high ceiling, especially considering his widely projected top 5 draft stock, he could definitely use some of the things Garrison has learned throughout his time with Pope to his advantage quickly once he is ready to step back onto the floor.

It's clear Quaintance is looking to be a step ahead when he debuts in Rupp Arena this fall. There is so much potential when it comes to what the elite defender is capable of. His play is going to raise Kentucky's ceiling exponentially, and with Quaintance working to be ready once the time comes, that's one big step in the right direction.