Mark Pope gave an update on how Jayden Quaintance's rehab is going

Kentucky is looking to get one of their biggest pieces of this season's roster on the floor as soon as possible, and that player is Jayden Quaintance, who tore his ACL back in March at Arizona State and is on his way to recovery.

Quaintance doesn't just have the highest potential on any player on this Kentucky team, but in the entire country, as he is widely projected as a top five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, with many scouts drooling over his defensive ability as well as his versatility, being able to move as good as he does at his size. Quaintance could have a historic season at Kentucky with how much potential he has to show off this season, but it will only help if he's back on the floor sooner rather than later.

Mark Pope was asked on Monday about an updated timetable on Quaintance's return, and Pope had some interesting things to say as far as the 6-10 big man has been showing some amazing results with his testing.

"The one thing I can tell you is he is like, breaking every record known to humankind in terms of his rehab. It's unbelievable," Pope said. "So a month ago, (Brandon) Wells and Randy (Towner) came to me, and they're like, coach, so these numbers are just insane. He was at a 46% asymmetry strength lens, which is fully expected, okay, and then it was a month five weeks ago. They hit me and say, coach, it's down to 3% and not only is the asymmetry down to 3% but he's 20% stronger in his full leg functioning, both legs than the average same body type, same size, NBA player right now. That's crazy, like, this dude is a big, strong, hulking, brilliant, humbling for the head coach, player who's gonna be really fun to coach."

As far as a timetable goes, Pope didn't provide any specifics, but he did say Quaintance is moving very fast with the rehab process, but Pope and the staff know not to rush him back too quickly.

"Time wise, he's just going so fast, but we are going to proceed with extreme caution, because as fast as he's recovering, there's a balance that we're trying to strike where he's got an incredible, incredible future in this game, and we're going to make sure he gets every opportunity to help this team be great, and also have an opportunity to go on and do all the great things he's going to do after."

Kentucky is surely hoping to get Quaintance on the floor as quickly as they can, while also being smart about it, because the 6-10 big man is an absolute game-changer for the Wildcats, especially with his elite defense.