Five-star center Jayden Quaintance, the top uncommitted prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle by 247Sports, committed to Arizona State on Monday. The former Kentucky signee requested a release from his National Letter of Intent shortly after John Calipari departed for the vacant job at Arkansas.
Quaintance is Arizona State's highest rated recruit since 247Sports began its rankings in 2000 and is just the second five-star recruit Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley has landed, joining Josh Christopher, who committed to ASU in the 2020 recruiting cycle. The Sun Devils 2024 recruiting class now ranks No. 14 in the 247Sports team rankings.
Quaintance ranks as the No. 8 overall player in his recruiting class and the second-ranked center behind Duke signee Khaman Maluach. Quaintance won't turn 17 until July, which makes him ineligible for the 2025 NBA Draft. NBA rules state that a player must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft, which opens the door for Quaintance to play two seasons in college.
Quaintance committed to Kentucky out of high school over Florida, Missouri, and Ohio State. He took an official visit to ASU last weekend and also visited Memphis. His commitment gives Hurley and his staff a building block as they transition from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 for the 2024-25 campaign.
Here is Quaintance's scouting report from 247Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein.
He's 6-foot-9 with massively long arms (7-foot-3-plus wingspan), vertical athleticism, a strong frame, good hands, soft touch, shooting potential, natural face-up skill, and signs of a passing instinct. He also runs the floor well and is a solid rebounder when he commits himself. Offensively, he has all the natural tools to be a huge mismatch threat. He's already a major lob and tip-dunk threat who dunks balls while still on his way up, and is equally dangerous out of the dunker spot. He's intent on developing his shooting range and has the natural touch to do so, which will allow him to maximize floor-spacing in both directions. Consequently, he should be a very tough cover in ball-screen action, because he's equally capable of rolling or popping. He can put the ball on the floor and attack opposing bigs off the dribble. He's also a threat to out-run them from rim-to-rim and capable of both making tough catches in traffic and then absorbing contact. Long-term, he should even be someone who is difficult to double-team because of his natural passing ability.
The Sun Devils' incoming recruiting class includes four-star forward Amier Ali, four-star forward Sammie Yeanay, three-star guard Bo Alridge, three-star center Jaden Smith, and Quaintance.
