The new Wildcats big man hopes to be ready for the start of the 2025-2026 season.

If there’s a wild card going into the Kentucky Wildcats’ 2025-26 season, it could be the health of Jayden Quaintance at the start of the season and, potentially, during it.

Quaintance is recovering from a torn ACL he sustained in late February last season when he was playing for the Arizona State Sun Devils. His injury shortened a season where he was averaging 2.6 blocks per game, in addition to 9.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

Now with the Wildcats, a program he was originally committed to before John Calipari left for Arkansas in April of 2024, Quaintance recently gave a positive update on his recovery with the season now less than four months away.

“I’ve been progressing pretty well,” Quaintance said while declining to put a timetable on his recovery. “I’ve been trusting the trainers and coaches to try and get me right. Mentally, I’ve just been kind of focusing on the next step and kind of also focusing on the moment.