Jayden Quaintance
American basketball player (born 2007)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jayden Quaintance (born July 11, 2007) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Arizona State Sun Devils and Kentucky Wildcats.[1][2]
| San Antonio Spurs | ||||||||||||
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| Position | Power forward / center | |||||||||||
| League | NBA | |||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
| Born | July 11, 2007 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | |||||||||||
| Listed weight | 255 lb (116 kg) | |||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||
| High school |
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| College |
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| NBA draft | 2026: 1st round, 20th overall pick | |||||||||||
| Drafted by | San Antonio Spurs | |||||||||||
| Playing career | 2026–present | |||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||
| 2026–present | San Antonio Spurs | |||||||||||
| Career highlights | ||||||||||||
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Medals
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Early life and high school
Quaintance grew up in Cleveland, Ohio.[3] He moved to Phoenix, Arizona before the start of high school and enrolled at Hillcrest Prep.[4] Quaintance transferred again to Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina before his sophomore year.[5] He also reclassified from the class of 2025 to 2024.[6] Quaintance was selected to play in the 2024 McDonald's All-American Boys Game during his senior year.[7]
Recruiting
Quaintance was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2024 class, according to major recruiting services.[8][9] He committed to play college basketball at Kentucky over offers from Missouri, Florida, South Florida, and Ohio State.[10] Quaintance signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) to play for the Wildcats on November 15, 2023, during the early signing period.[11] However, he requested a release from his NLI on April 10, 2024, shortly after Kentucky head coach John Calipari left the program to become the head coach at Arkansas.[12] On April 29, 2024, Quaintance announced his commitment to Arizona State.
College career
Quaintance played one season with Arizona State, playing 24 games and averaging 9.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.[13] In February 2025, he injured his knee and missed the remainder of the season. He had knee surgery on March 19.[14] Following the season, he entered the transfer portal.[15] He later announced he would transfer to Kentucky, where he had originally committed to play his freshman year.[16]
Professional career
On June 23, 2026, Quaintance was selected with the 20th overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Draft.
National team career
Quaintance played for the United States national under-16 team at the 2023 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship. He averaged 6.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in six games as the United States won the gold medal.[17]