Former 5-star Kentucky commit won’t follow Calipari to Arkansas, Wildcats in play

Whenever John Calipari shocked the Kentucky Wildcats and the college basketball world by leaving Lexington to replace Eric Musselman with the Arkansas Razorbacks, the expectation was as is often the case in the coaching carousel: Kentucky's vaunted recruiting class would follow Calipari to Fayetteville.

But so far, that has not entirely been the case as Coach Cal aims to fill out a barren Razorbacks roster. Karter Knox, the younger brother of former Kentucky standout Kevin Knox, decommitted from the Wildcats on April 8 and recently committed to Arkansas to follow Calipari. And we know that big man Zvonimir Ivisic is transferring to the Razorbacks. That's it, though.

More importantly, we now know at least one former Kentucky commit who won't be staying committed to Calipari: Jayden Quaintance.

Eric Bossi of 247Sports reported that the 5-star big man out of Raleigh, NC has ruled Arkansas out as a possible option after the former Kentucky commit reopened his recruitment after Calipari's job change.

5-star Jayden Quaintance rules out following Calipari to Arkansas; Kentucky still alive

As stated, the expectation among many college hoops fans and particularly Big Blue Nation was that the center would pretty obviously go along with Calipari. So for him to already rule that out without having made a decision yet is quite the surprise, but one that could be great news for the Wildcats.

Quaintance has already visited with the rival Louisville Cardinals in the past week but new Kentucky head coach Mark Pope is also on the schedule for the 5-star prospect with an in-home visit set for this week. There is also a looming visit with the Memphis Tigers to consider as well.

But Kentucky is still firmly in the mix to get Quaintance to recommit, something that the program direly needs with Pope taking over at the helm of the program. The Wildcats have just one commit in their 2024 recruiting class right now, the No. 75 player in the 247Sports Composite, guard Travis Perry, along with Drexel transfer Amari Williams.

Landing Quaintance (again) wouldn't quell all concerns about Kentucky in the first year post-Calipari, but it would be a massive step in the right direction for the beginning of Pope's tenure.