Houston’s Kelvin Sampson says he hopes Jayden Quaintance sticks around at ASU under Hurley

ASU’s season has fallen well under expectation given the talent it had on paper, but the coach of the Big 12’s top dog said he hopes Jayden Quaintance returns for his required second season and continues developing under Bobby Hurley.

“Hopefully, he’ll stay there with Bobby and those guys at Arizona State and continue to develop, but he’s got a chance to be special,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson told reporters on Monday.

Sampson said the big man caught his eye while preparing for BYU when he saw tape of Quaintance’s performance in Provo on Dec. 31, tallying eight points (4-for-5 shooting inside the arc) and four offensive rebounds in 34 minutes.

Quaintance, because of his age, is not eligible to enter the 2025 NBA Draft and needs to play another season before the 2026 draft, whether in Tempe or elsewhere.

Hurley previously told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta retaining Quaintance will be a top priority in the offseason.

“Every year, it’s gonna be up to you, the experience that you build, the trust that you build with the player, with the family. And I can tell you that JQ’s dad and I, I think, have a really good relationship, a very open relationship of communication,” Hurley told Arizona Sports on Tuesday.

“Sometimes, there’s ‘Hey, I think we could’ve done this for Jayden,’ and I’m certainly open to listening to everybody’s camp and trying to see how we could do a better job of coaching him and putting him in a position to be successful. But that kid has just had a monster year for a 17-year-old just in so many different statistical areas and areas that coaches value that help winning besides just putting the ball in the basket.

“And it’s scary to imagine what he’ll be like eight months from now with another full offseason under his belt,” Hurley continued. “It will be a top priority to convince him that he is a foundational type of player in our program.”

Sampson has Houston up to No. 5 in the latest AP Poll after beating then-No. 13 Arizona, separating to take a two-game lead in the race for the regular-season Big 12 title.

A matchup with the Sun Devils is the next task at hand to the Cougars going 2-for-2 in regular-season titles since joining the conference last year.

Jayden Quaintance not likely to play vs. No. 5 Houston

Quaintance likely won’t suit up when the teams face off Tuesday night due to an ankle injury suffered on Feb. 9 when undercut in transition by an Oklahoma State player.

Hurley initially told Bickley & Marotta Quaintance would be “out for a period of time” with the injury and explained after Saturday’s game the next steps in his recovery process.

“He’s doing some stuff, and he’s as good as anybody that I’ve had in terms of … being diligent about the treatment stuff … so he’ll be doing more and more starting this week, and then we’ll just see how he progresses,” Hurley said. “Then we’ll huddle up with him and see how he feels, and we’ll make decisions on when he would make it back.”

Quaintance has been greatly impactful as a freshman, leading ASU in rebounding (8.2 per game), as well as on just the offensive glass (3.1). He also leads major conference players in blocks per game (2.82 over 22 contests).

“I think typical of a really good, young, big kid like him, he’s probably further ahead defensive rebounding-wise than he is offense,” Sampson said of his assessment. “His offense will come as he progresses in his career, but he is gifted.”

The Sun Devils will face off against the first-place Cougars at 7 p.m. MST on Tuesday from Desert Financial Arena. Listen on 98.7, the Arizona Sports app or online, or watch on ESPN2.

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