During his weekly call-in show on Monday, Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope teased the idea of Jayden Quaintance playing at the 4 spot. He emphasized that possibility again on Tuesday during his pre-Alabama press conference with local media, saying that Quaintance is being given more and more run in practice as the Wildcats’ power forward.
“JQ, he played 4 all day yesterday,” Pope said Tuesday. “I don’t know if that’s necessarily where he’s going to land, but he’s certainly capable and it gives us a different look. It’s pretty exciting.”
Clocking in at 6-foot-10, 255 pounds, Quaintance is certainly capable of playing the 4. Despite his massive size, he’s incredibly athletic and mobile with a 7-foot-5 wingspan. Defending is not going to be an issue for him, no matter where he’s at on the floor. He can help stretch the floor with his ability to beat other bigs off the dribble. At Arizona State last season, he ranked in the 74th percentile in assist percentage. Three-point shooting hasn’t been something we’ve seen much of from him on film (he’s just 6-32 as a college player from distance), but Pope is comfortable letting Quaintance fire from deep.
His versatility makes it easier for Pope to move him around.
“JQ can actually shoot it a little bit,” Pope said. “He’s got so many different facets of the game that are dangerous… He’s done things on the court in the last couple weeks that he has never done before. He’s only 18.”
Another real threat of playing Quaintance at the 4 is the idea of the double-big lineup that comes with it. The game of basketball had been trending away from playing multiple big men together until the last few years. For example, the Minnesota Timberwolves just reached back-to-back NBA Western Conference Finals by using Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns in 2023-24, then Gobert and Julius Randle in 2024-25.
Other NBA teams are following that trend, albeit at a slow rate. It’ll make its way back to college eventually. Pope is in a position where he has an NBA-ready big man on his roster right now, one who can fit next to other bigs if the situation is right. In Kentucky’s case, Quaintance would play alongside one of 6-foot-10 Brandon Garrison or 7-footer Malachi Moreno in a double-big lineup.
Pope has only had a healthy Quaintance for two games now, and JQ played just 25 total minutes in those contests, but Pope has found success through a very small sample size with Quaintance next to Garrison. According to CBB Analytics, Kentucky is +6 in seven combined minutes (five of those coming in the win over St. John’s) when those two share the court. Quaintance has yet to play at the same time as Moreno.
Something else to consider: playing the four might just be the more natural fit for Quaintance. Mock draft boards consider him a power forward at the next level. And considering that Kentucky isn’t going to straight-up outscore opponents the same way it did last season, embracing a defensive-minded approach with multiple bigs could be the best path to success for the Wildcats.
Don’t be surprised if Pope breaks out more Quaintance and Garrison/Moreno combos in the SEC-opener this Saturday against No. 14 Alabama.