Five-star center Jayden Quaintance down to two schools, including Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky and SEC foe Missouri are the final two for the 16-year-old Jayden Quaintance.

Just four days ago, it was reported that 2024 five-star center Jayden Quaintance was down to four schools, having eliminated the G-League Ignite as an option.

Quaintance was choosing between Kentucky, Missouri, Florida, and Ohio State, but less than a week later, a report from Joe Tipton at On3 indicates the big man already eliminated the Gators and Buckeyes and will choose between Kentucky and Missouri.

Quaintance is out of Word of God High School in North Carolina. He was originally part of the 2025 recruiting class but will reclassify to 2024, although he'll have to spend two years in college before being NBA draft-eligible in 2026.

Quaintance is the eighth-ranked player in the 2024 class according to On3's composite rankings, although he is No. 4 at On3.

The big man spoke with On3 about each of his finalists and had this to say about the Wildcats: “They have had a lot of success with previous draft picks. They’ve had guard success, but they’ve had good success with bigs, a lot more than other colleges. Coach (John) Calipari has been showing a lot of love, and Coach Chin (Coleman), too. Coach Cal has already come to Word of God twice to see me. We’ve been able to build a good relationship."

On3 still favors the Wildcats, although Missouri is making a strong push for the 6'10 big man, who would join Somto Cyril as the frontcourt players in Kentucky's 2024 class.

Should Kentucky secure a commitment from Quaintance, they'd go back-to-back years with a top-10 big man following Aaron Bradshaw, who was ranked No. 5 in the class of 2023 at 247Sports.

---

Follow Wildcats Today on Socials!

Like Wildcats Today on Facebook!

Follow Wildcats Today on Twitter!

Subscribe to Locked On Kentucky on YouTube!