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2024 Jayden Quaintance Updates Recruitment With KY Insider

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One of the top players in the class of 2024, Top-10 prospect Jayden Quaintance recently reclassified, and has shown why here lately. All of the physical tools you want in a big man, he is very impressive with his size and physicality.

KY Insider was on hand this weekend at the MADE Hoops High School Academy to catch Quaintance in action, where he shined all weekend. In other words, he was nearly unstoppable with his overwhelming size and strength compared to the others. He did whatever he wanted, getting to the rim at will, and making his big presence known on defense.

Quaintance took the time to speak with KY Insider to discuss the latest in his recruitment after recently reclassifying to 2024.

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How has the move to 2024 been for you?

“I’ve been playing up (17U division) all summer anyway, so I feel like I’ve been holding my ground and I’ve been doing pretty well, so I feel like it’s a good tool to get to college a little quicker.”

Your one of the top players in your class. Tell me about your game.

“I play fast, I’m really versatile, more versatile than a lot of people my size.” He later expanded more on his game: “I feel like I bring a lot defensively, offensively I can score inside and out. I can handle the ball better than a lot of people realize. I can do a lot of different things on offense and defense.

Who are the schools showing you the most interest?

“Cincinnati, Washington, Ohio State, and Kentucky.”

What’s your relationship like with those schools?

“Those are coaches that I’m able to talk to on the phone. I’ve visited all of them but Washington, but we’ve got a visit set up for there. Yeah, just talking to the coaches and getting to know them.”

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Could you tell me more about your relationship with Kentucky?

“When I went up to Kentucky for an official visit, I got to talk to Coach Cal, see a practice, see what the environment was like there, walked around the campus, see what the main gym looked like, the atmosphere. It was cool.”

Can you tell me about your dreams of playing in the NBA?

“I wanna be the best player that I can be. I feel like I can be a NBA All-Star. I put my everything into getting better, and being the best player that I can be.”

Do you have any more visits you’re looking to take?

“I’m doing an official (visit) to Ohio State, Cincinnati, Washington, but I don’t think we have Kentucky set yet.

When are you looking to take those visits?

“September and October.”

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What’s Kentucky’s pitch to you right now?

“They like how I play fast, and how I’m a lot more quicker on my feet than a lot of bigs. They like that, they would use me at a position to utilize that, my quickness.”

How often do you talk with Kentucky? Daily?

“Nah, I’m only allowed to talk to every coach, like, they’re only allowed to talk like once a week-ish. Coach said I could call him anytime if I want to talk to him, he said he’s not the type to blow up my phone, so he’s always available if I wanna talk to him. But, nah, the communication is good.”

Is there an important factor in your recruitment?

“Just knowing they’ll put trust in me, let me rock out and show what I can do, show my versatility and my skills, and make sure it’s just the right fit, coaching style is good, environment is good.”

Quaintance made sure people are paying attention to him as one of the top players in 2024. His physical tools are all there, and his size and physicality was on full display throughout the weekend, dominating his competition.

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Check out some highlight’s of him from MADE Hoops HSA below.

BB Recruiting

BREAKING: Four-Star PG Acaden Lewis Commits to Kentucky over Duke and UConn, “You Can’t Beat What They Are Doing”

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2025 four-star point guard prospect Acaden Lewis has announced his commitment to Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats.
UK Athletics

It’s a good start to the weekend as Kentucky basketball has picked up a commitment. 2025 four-star point guard Acaden Lewis from Washington, D.C., announced his commitment to Kentucky on Saturday afternoon, picking the Wildcats over Duke and Connecticut.

Funny enough, during an unofficial visit in Lexington back in June, Mark Pope joked with fans that Lewis was committing to Kentucky. While Lewis didn’t commit that day, Pope was able to seal the deal a few months later.

Why Kentucky?

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“It felt like a community. Pope, he was in the hood with me. He came to my barber shop and everything. It felt like a home. Felt like somewhere I should be. The system is great.”

Lewis joins five-star commits Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson in Kentucky’s class, and helps bolster the Wildcats’ class ranking up to second, only behind Duke. Both players recruited Lewis to join them, with Moreno joining him for part of his official visit to Kentucky back in October, including being featured in his photoshoot. Shortly after the visit, Lewis said in an interview about Kentucky, “You can’t beat what they were doing.”

While Moreno and Johnson were big recruiting victories, they were both players from Kentucky. This is Pope’s commitment from outside of the state, and he went up against the bluest of blue bloods in Duke, UConn, and North Carolina.

Now, can Lewis help Kentucky close the deal on consensus top 10 wing Caleb Wilson? The two have expressed a lot of interest in playing together, and Wilson is aiming to make a decision by December, with Kentucky as one of the two leaders.

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Scouting Report

Lewis is a lefty lead guard who is extremely talented with the ball. He has soft hands and natural touch that are the foundation of a very advanced skill set. His handle is tight, he’s a lay-up maker with both hands, and he has soft floaters and tough pull-ups alike in the mid-range area. While Lewis connected on just 31% of his threes during EYBL play, he’s a much better shooter than those numbers indicate. He made 83% of his free throws, attempted nearly 7 threes per game, and projects as someone who not only has gravity spotting up but can be a movement shooter as well.

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Malachi Moreno Helping Kentucky Recruit Top 2025 Point Guard

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Five-star Kentucky commit Malachi Moreno is helping the Wildcats recruit one of the top point guards of the 2025 class Acaden Lewis.
UK Athletics

This past weekend was a big moment for Kentucky basketball, as the first Big Blue Madness of the Mark Pope era took place. In years past, the event has hosted multiple five-star recruits and this year was no different.

While the guest list was smaller due to USA Basketball junior mini camp, the Wildcats had two top recruits in attendance, 2026 five-star Anthony Thompson and 2024 four-star combo guard Acaden Lewis.

The latter is one of Kentucky’s biggest recruiting priorities in the 2025 class and was also on campus for an official visit as he prepares to make his college decision in early November. To help was five-star commit, Malachi Moreno.

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While Moreno couldn’t make it to Big Blue Madness, he was able to meet with Lewis during his visit on Thursday and even took part in his photo shoot, as the pair posed together in Kentucky uniforms in Rupp Arena.

It helps to have a five-star commit just down the road to help recruit. Could we see the pair play together next season at Kentucky? Things are trending in that direction, but time will tell.

Also published on A Sea of Blue.

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Mark Pope Hints at Next Basketball Commitment, “Details to Come”

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Kentucky basketball head coach Mark Pope hints at his next commitment, already with a top five class.
Chet White | UK Athletics

When Mark Pope was first hired by Kentucky in April, the biggest concern was if he could recruit. Within weeks, he assembled a staff and recruited the fifth-ranked transfer portal, including the likes of Jaxson Robinson, Amari Williams, and Lamont Butler.

Now nearly six months later, Pope has gotten some big high school recruiting victories, receiving commitments from five-star prospects Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson. While early, the Cats currently have a top-five class for 2025 and are the only program with multiple five-star commitments. Still going after multiple top names, the class is far from finished. In fact, another commitment may be on the horizon.

In an interview with the Sources Say Podcast, talking about his recruiting, Pope said that is currently in a chess match for one recruit.

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“Recently, in the fall — I can’t name names, but we’re trying all kinds of different things,” Pope said. “I’m a terrible, terrible chess player, but I love doing it. I do have one intense chess match on the board with a recruit that is for a commitment.”

“We’ll see if that comes to fruition. We’ll see. Details to come.”

Who could this player be? The Wildcats are still pursuing multiple five-star targets, but Pope’s comments are likely about Acaden Lewis or Caleb Wilson.

The former, a four-star combo guard, is expected to make a decision in early November, and will be in town for Big Blue Madness this Friday. The latter, a unanimous top-10 prospect, has been rumored to move his timeline up as well, however, there have been conflicting reports.

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Only time will tell…

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