Kentucky HC Mark Pope reveals tough Jayden Quaintance injury update

It sure sounds like the Kentucky Wildcats are anticipating that they won't have the services of sophomore forward Jayden Quaintance for the foreseeable future. 

Quaintance has missed Kentucky's last six games due to swelling in his surgically repaired right knee. With a game against No. 15 Arkansas coming up on Saturday, Quaintance is likely going to miss a seventh straight contest.

"Well, he’s still dealing with a little bit of swelling in his knee, so we’re trying to make sure we get to a great kick-off point," head coach Mark Pope told the media on Thursday (h/t On3). "I wish I could predict how that’s going to work, but we don’t know. We actually don’t."

Quaintance tore his ACL in March 2025 while playing for Arizona State. He transferred to Kentucky this offseason, and the anticipation was that he would play a big role for the Wildcats. 

He made his debut in a 78-66 win over No. 25 St. John's and notched 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in that game. Since then, though, he has struggled with knee soreness and swelling and has had a hard time getting consistent minutes.

Kentucky shutting down Jayden Quaintance's on-court work 

It's at the point where the Wildcats have basically pulled the plug when it comes to letting Quaintance try to work it out on the hardwood, at least until they see some improvement. 

"Right now, he’s in full shutdown in terms of his on-court work," Pope said. "We’re doing everything we can with the performance team. One of the things that is, in the immediate moment, challenging, is that he misses some of the strength they’ve worked so hard to develop. The knee protective strength. It’s a bit of a complicated bag, but I know his health long-term is going to be excellent. It’s just in the immediate future, we’re trying to figure that out."

In 24 games played last season for ASU, Quaintance notched 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.