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.

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.

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