Kentucky has only gotten four games out of Jayden Quaintance coming off a long wait for his debut in late December and setbacks in early January that have kept him off the floor ever since, last suiting up against Missouri on Jan. 7. There was the high of his 10-point, eight-rebound, two-block effort in the 78-66 win over No. 22 St. John’s, but since then, his time in Lexington can only be seen as a missed opportunity for all parties involved.
Could there be a light at the end of the tunnel, though, and turn this unfortunate situation into a feel-good story during March Madness? Mark Pope said going into the NCAA Tournament that while Quaintance is ‘making progress,’ he ‘(doesn’t) think he’s going to be able to cross the line before this weekend — although, you never know for sure.’
For the first time since his last appearance in the blue and white, Quaintance shared his side of the story on Thursday ahead of Kentucky’s opening-round matchup vs. No. 10 seed Santa Clara on Friday…