Kentucky
Could a return to Kentucky be in the cards for Jayden Quaintance’s with his draft stock falling?
Heading into this season of Kentucky basketball, Big Blue Nation was very excited to see Jayden Quaintance take the floor. Quaintance was a name familiar to Kentucky fans as he was committed to play for John Calipari, but before Cal made the move to Arkansas, Quaintance flipped to Arizona State.
As a freshman at ASU, Quaintance turned heads but then went down with an ACL tear toward the end of the season. He got surgery and hit the transfer portal, picking Kentucky. The hope was to get Quaintance back toward the end of non-conference play, and this was the case as he made his debut against St. John’s. He proceeded to only play in four games before his surgically repaired knee swelled up, and he did not see any more action for the rest of the season.
Before the season started, Quaintance was a projected top five pick in the NBA Draft, but he has fallen outside of the top 15 due to the fact that he only played four games and how elite this draft class is. This has some fans wondering if there is a chance that Quaintance could think about returning to Lexington next season.
Personally, I still don’t believe this is going to happen, but there are some arguments that could be made to make this make more sense. First, if Quaintance was going to head to the NBA Draft and give up his college eligibility, I feel like he would have already made some kind of announcement. Obviously, I expect him to at least test the waters, but his stock continues to fall.
The other interesting thing is that aside from Malachi Moreno, likely returning to Kentucky the staff hasn’t been active at center in the portal. Knowing they will definitely need another five aside from Moreno, it is interesting that early into the portal, the staff hasn’t been active at the five.
| Brett Davis-Imagn Images
This 2026 draft class is one of the strongest ever, while the 2027 draft class is looking weak. If Quaintance came back to college and put up some monstrous numbers once fully healthy, he could go in the top five of the 2027 draft and receive a lot more money from the league.
While right now it still seems like the most likely outcome for Quaintance will be heading to the NBA Draft, it is not crazy to say there is a world where he could return for another year of college hoops. We will get some clarity soon, but this is something to monitor over the next few days/weeks.
Collin Chandler is saying farewell to Kentucky as he has entered the transfer portal following the completion of the 2025-26 season.
On Thursday, Chandler released a statement to On3. He concluded it by saying he’s going home. Chandler, a Utah native, is expected to transfer to BYU. He originally committed to play for Mark Pope at BYU, but went on his mission trip. Upon returning, he entered the portal and followed Pope to Lexington.
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“I am so grateful to Coach Pope, the assistant coaches and staff, my teammates, and the University of Kentucky and BBN for the last 2 years,” Chandler wrote. “You welcomed me into your family with open arms, were patient with me, and supported me every step of the way. You helped me grow so much — not just as a player, but as a man. You will always be family to me.
“I am returning home and excited for the work and challenges ahead.”
Chandler took a big step forward in 2025-26, his sophomore season. His production increased from 2.7 points per game to 9.7 as his playing time went up from 10.4 minutes per outing to 27.1 this season. In his second year, Chandler made 43.5% of his field-goal attempts, including 41% from 3-point range.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
FLOYD COUNTY, Ky. (WCHS) — A Floyd County man who served as a lieutenant at an eastern Kentucky penitentiary was sentenced to prison Wednesday for falsifying records related to the assaults of inmates.
Michael Childers, 47, of Harold, Ky., was sentenced to 17 months in prison following a case that dates back to 2021 at U.S. Penitentiary Big Sandy in Inez, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Childers pleaded guilty to being present when an inmate was assaulted by fellow staff members and then writing an incident report that falsely claimed the inmate had struck him with his head and a closed fist.
Prosecutors said Childers admitted to writing the statements knowing they were false in an attempt to “ impede the administration of justice regarding the investigation of the unlawful assault on the inmate,” the news release said.
Under federal law, Childers must serve 85% of his prison sentence, according to the news release. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for one year.
Childers is the final defendant to be sentenced for the assault.
Former Lt. Terry Melvin pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights and violating an individual’s rights under the color of law. He was sentenced to 48 months in prison.
Another former lieutenant, Kevin Pearce was convicted of writing false reports that covered up the assaults of inmates and was sentenced to 66 months.
A third former lieutenant, Ryan Elliott, pleaded guilty to assaulting an inmate and writing a false report about the assault of a second inmate in an unrelated incident. He was sentenced in 2024 to 12 months and one day in prison.
Case management coordinator Samuel Patrick and captain’s secretary Clinton Pauley pleaded guilty to their roles in the assaults of inmates and were sentenced in 2023 to 36 and 40 months respectively.
According to Jeff Goodman, San Diego State guard Miles Byrd will make his college choice on Thursday. His finalists include the Wildcats, Baylor Bears, Louisville Cardinals, Providence Friars, Texas Longhorns, Vanderbilt Commodores, and Cincinnati Bearcats.
The 6-6, 190-pound Byrd is one of the top players in the portal and has one season of eligibility remaining. This past season, he averaged 10.4 points on 40.5% shooting (30.8% from deep on 4.3 attempts per game), 4.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game, earning him Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year honors.
If Kentucky is the choice, then Mark Pope and Co. will be hoping Byrd makes a Lamont Butler-type jump in offensive production like the latter did when he played his final season in Lexington. Butler and Byrd were actually teammates in the 2022-23 season when the latter redshirted.
As of this writing, it’s unclear who the perceived favorite is. When he first entered the portal, Baylor was viewed as the early school to watch, so the Bears could be the team to beat.
Byrd is currently ranked 13th overall and fifth among shooting guards in the 2026 transfer portal cycle by On3.
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