It looks like Arizona State fans might have seen the last of freshman phenom Jayden Quaintance.
Quaintance's father, Hammin, told ESPN his son had successful surgery to repair a torn ACL and should be cleared by September. He is exploring his options with regard to the transfer portal.
Quaintance, the youngest player in college basketball this season at 17, was injured in a game at Kansas State on Feb. 23 and didn't play again. He scored 18 points with seven rebounds and two steals in that game before being injured late in the fourth quarter while driving to the basket.
There was never any clear word on the injury and coach Bobby Hurley never really addressed it head-on, just saying the player would be out this week or was doubtful to play in the Big 12 tournament.
Quaintance averaged 9.4 points and a team-best 7-9 rebounds this season. He recorded six double-doubles. He also tallied 63 blocked shots which was a school record for a freshman. He was among the national leaders in that category before being injured. He was named to the Big-12 All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams.
Quaintance, who won't turn 18 until January, played in 24 games, missing a total of nine. He also missed games due to an ankle injury suffered in practice.
Quaintance was the highest-ranked recruit the program had landed and was considered a recruiting coup for Hurley. He was not eligible for the draft this year because of his age and was looked at as a potential lottery pick come 2026.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU basketball's Jayden Quaintance has surgery for torn ACL
