After news broke about high school basketball phenom Jayden Quaintance de-committing from Kentucky, reports came today that he will be heading to ASU for college.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!According to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the 2024 McDonald’s All-American is signing with Arizona State.
“Major commitment on a potential 2026 NBA Draft lottery pick: Jayden Quaintance – a 16-year old ranked as the No. 2 center in ESPN’s Top 100 prospects — will sign with the Arizona State Sun Devils, he tells ESPN,” Wojnarowski said. “He recently de-committed from Kentucky.”
Major commitment on a potential 2026 NBA Draft lottery pick: Jayden Quaintance – a 16-year old ranked as the No. 2 center in ESPN’s Top 100 prospects — will sign with the Arizona State Sun Devils, he tells ESPN. He recently de-committed from Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/5u8D0Vdd9p
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 29, 2024
Even though he is 16 years old, Quaintance reclassified from the high school class of 2025 to 2024. He will be a Sun Devil a year early, and will most likely have to spend two years in college before being able to declare for the 2026 NBA Draft due to his age.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he moved to Phoenix before high school and played his freshman year at one of the top basketball programs in the Valley, Hillcrest Prep. The 6-foot-9 forward/center was also enrolled at Dream City Christian in Glendale.
For a third time, Quaintance transferred again but out-of-state in North Carolina as he went to Word of God Christian Academy this past season.
During the early signing period, he signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) with Kentucky on Nov. 15, 2023.
In a plot twist, however, the Wildcats’ now-former head coach John Calipari departed from the program and took the same job at Arkansas.
Because of this, Quaintance requested his release from the NLI on April 10 before committing to ASU. He also received offers from Memphis and Louisville following his de-commitment.
Last summer, 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 becomes the Sun Devils program’s highest-ranked commit since former Houston Rockets guard Josh Christopher back in 2020.
With him joining Arizona State, head coach Bobby Hurley continues the major construction of the Sun Devils’ roster before next season after star Frankie Collins transferred to TCU.
On Saturday, Hurley and Arizona State were able to recruit ex-Milwaukee guard BJ Freeman. Former Ball State forward Basheer Jihad and Missouri State guard Alston Mason also transferred while highly-regarded high schoolers Sammie Yeanay and Amier Ali are both committed to Hurley’s squad.
ASU will officially start playing in the Big 12 Conference next season after departing from the Pac-12. The team’s schedule is not yet available.
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers Phoenix Sports News for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
