Mark Pope called it a “really, really serious injury” for Jayden Quaintance as he inched closer and closer to his Kentucky debut, despite ‘breaking every record known to humankind’ in his recovery with initial hope on the Arizona State transfer’s side that he could be available by the start of the season. In the end, it was a nine-month recovery, undergoing surgery on March 19 and returning on December 20 — quick, but not totally uncommon nowadays for a torn ACL.
Was Pope being hyperbolic about Quaintance’s timeline and the milestones he hit along the way ahead of his 10-point, eight-rebound, two-block debut against St.