The Arizona State basketball program is moving into the 11th campaign of the Bobby Hurley era with an entirely new roster - save for one player.
Among the players that departed is Jayden Quaintance, a dynamic five star center recruit from the 2024 class
The freshman was one of the lone bright spots in Tempe last season - as he averaged nearly four blocks+steals per game while also exhibiting growth on the offensive side of the ball before suffering a season-ending injury.
NBA draft expert Jeremy Woo of ESPN believes that Quaintance is one of the top returning prospects in college basketball ahead of next June's NBA draft.
The rationale below:
"Quaintance was 17 years old for all of his freshman season at Arizona State and was ineligible to enter this year's draft. NBA teams were paying close attention throughout, drawn to his excellent physical profile and flashes of talent as a dunker and interior finisher. Considering he could have been a junior in high school, his huge shot-blocking numbers (2.6 per game) were particularly eye-popping."
"While Quaintance is quite raw from a skill perspective, particularly his jump shot, and has a lot to learn with his overall technique and ability to process the floor, his extreme youth for the college level earns him benefit of the doubt, and NBA scouts will be eager to see whether he can take another step forward after transferring to Kentucky. He'll have a major platform there to try to solidify himself as a lottery talent, but there's a lot of refinement that has to happen before he's NBA-ready."
"How quickly he returns after his ACL surgery in March will be a factor to watch."
Quaintance now makes the move to Lexington, Kentucky to play for a program that has a second-to-none track record when it comes to developing high-level NBA talent - this will remain a major what-if in the scope of the basketball program.
On the current Arizona State front, Hurley will look to build a roster that can better compete in year two as members in the Big 12.
Read more about what Arizona State AD Graham Rossini had to say about Hurley heading into the new season here, and projecting the seasons that former Arizona State basketball stars will have in 2025-26 here.
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