Jayden Quaintance looking forward to showcasing his playmaking at Kentucky

Jayden Quaintance has the highest potential of anyone on Kentucky's 2025-26 roster, and even though he is widely seen as a lottery pick for the 2026 NBA Draft, there's still one skill he hasn't been able to showoff yet. Quaintance, who is known for his incredible defensive skills, is looking forward to the opportunity to showcase his passing this season at Kentucky.

In Mark Pope's system, playing through the bigs is crucial to the offense's success, which not only includes the big being at the top of the key screening the ball-handler, but also bringing the ball up the floor at times. The 6-10 big man is very confident in his ability to do just that, especially with how mobile he is, and he's excited to get to show off a skill that he wasn't able to at Arizona State.

"I feel like I have a lot of potential passing that I didn't get to tap into it once last year. I feel like handling the ball. I'm also going to be able to show a lot more than I was able to do last year."

Quaintance also admitted that the way Pope likes to play through his big men was a huge part in getting him to Lexington a second time around. "Definitely, you know, he kind of plays through his bigs, they got a lot more control, they're a bigger part of the offense, and just kind of have more of a role."

Kentucky returning big man Brandon Garrison has played a massive role this off-season being a teacher for Quaintance as he sat on the sideline during practice watching from Afar and learning how bigs play in Pope's system first-hand. Quaintance and Garrison will have similar roles on the team this season, with both looking to showcase more of their playmaking skills, where the decision-making becomes critical.

"He's been a great leader on the court. He's been very versatile, like he passes, he gets downhill, he's able to play in the post to get hit outside shots. He's been a very versatile player, and he brings effort on both sides of the floor. Big effort, energy guy. So I love it watching him play and seeing kind of how he fits in the system."

The 6-10 big man will certainly get the opportunity to showcase much of his skills once he returns from injury on his journey to the next level.