As a 17-year-old who won’t turn 18 until July, Arizona State’s Jayden Quaintance is one of the few college players who is not old enough to enter the 2025 NBA Draft.
His recent performances suggest, however, that he’s quickly coming of age.
The 6-foot-9 Quaintance will be a center of attention when Arizona State (10-7, 1-5 Big 12) takes on No. 23 West Virginia (13-4, 4-2) Tuesday in Morgantown, W.Va.
Quaintance, who is projected as a top-10 pick in the 2026 draft, had his two best games as a collegian last week. In a 95-89 loss at home to UCF, Quaintance scored a season-high 20 and added five blocks.
Then in a 67-60 loss Saturday at Cincinnati, Quaintance matched his season high in rebounds (14) to go along with his 15 points and five more blocks.
Quaintance recorded all but one of his points and all but one of his blocks in the second half when he was the dominant player on the floor, fueling a Sun Devils’ rally that trimmed a 17-point deficit to four.
“He’s got great instincts, natural athletic ability, things you don’t have to really teach,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. “We were all upset at halftime and he came out like a different guy offensively around the basket.”
Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, they aren’t mirroring the progression of Quaintance as they have lost four straight.
An ankle injury to second-leading scorer Joson Sanon (12.8 points per game) has left him sidelined for two of the defeats.
Top scorer BJ Freeman (13.2 points) may miss time as well after suffering a knee injury against Cincinnati.
“We’re super thin to begin with right now until we get Joson Sanon back,” Hurley said. “We really are counting on like seven guys, and that may not be enough.”
Playing at West Virginia will be a significant challenge. The Mountaineers are coming off a court-storming, 64-57 win Saturday over then-No. 2 Iowa State.
West Virginia’s fourth win this season over a ranked team was propelled by Big 12 scoring leader Javon Small (19.8 ppg), who delivered a virtuoso performance with 27 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.
“He’s been just incredible,” Mountaineers’ first-year coach Darian DeVries said. “I think he’s the best guard in the country right now.”
Small, who scored 12 points in the final 1:39 against Iowa State, has carried the team since DeVries’ son, Tucker DeVries, was sidelined in early December by an upper-body injury.
Darian DeVries said last week that it is close to decision time on whether to redshirt his son.
The loss of DeVries has left West Virginia with few other consistent scoring options. But the Mountaineers have found ways to win. In games decided by eight or fewer points, they are 6-0.
As they try to lighten the load on Small, the Mountaineers hope to get more from Amani Hansberry (10.2 points, 5.6 rebounds) and Jonathan Powell (9.2 points), who had two 3-pointers in the final 10 minutes on Saturday.
With Arizona State new to the conference, this is the first-ever meeting between the teams.
