The job Mark Pope has done in this year’s transfer portal is being nearly universally praised for the talent added to the roster. One of the big wins was getting tougher and better defensively on the frontcourt. One metric says they added two of the best five defenders in the portal.
Jayden Quaintance was set to play his Freshman season at Kentucky, but ended up at Arizona State after the coaching change. In his first season of college basketball, he was limited offensively, but he averaged 7.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, proving himself to be a force on defense.
Mouhamed Dioubate comes over from the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he established himself as a defensive dynamo. Despite being just 6’7, he averaged six rebounds per game in just 16 minutes per outing. He also showed the ability to guard multiple positions.
Both Quaintance and Dioubate were recruiting because of their defensive skills, and they’ve now been rated as two of the top five defenders in the transfer portal class.
Evan Miyakawa is data analyst for college basketball, and he used his formula for projected defensive impact to rank the transfer portal players. Quaintance ranked number one, while Dioubate came in at number four. Former Wildcat Zvonimi Ivisic ranks third.
Last season, Kentucky had solid perimeter defenders, but not enough inside. They’re looking to change that this year, and it starts with Quaintance and Dioubate.
