Five-star forward Jayden Quaintance has requested a release from his letter of intent to Kentucky basketball and plans to reopen his recruitment after John Calipari's departure to be the head coach at Arkansas, according to Jeff Borzello of ESPN.

Jayden Quaintance was the No. 14 recruit in the ESPN top 100 for the 2024 class, and he was the highest-ranked recruit for the incoming class for Kentucky basketball, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation behind Duke. It will be interesting to see if he will consider following John Calipari to Arkansas, or will consider other programs.

The hire that Kentucky makes will be a decider as well, and maybe Quaintance could still consider going there, but that is unknown at this time.

Other commits for Kentucky are Boogie Fland, Somto Cyril, Travis Perry and Billy Richmond. It will be interesting to see the potential decisions from those players in the near future in regards to whether they still want to play for Kentucky or consider other options heading into next season. It would not be surprising if any of these players waited to see who the new coach is at Kentucky.

Under Calipari, Kentucky was very much focused on churning NBA talent in and out, and over the last few years, relying on young players has hurt the Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky has been upset in the last three years, and friction between Calipari, the fanbase and the athletic department consisted. That led to the decision for him to depart for the Arkansas head coaching job.

What will Kentucky basketball look like next season?

The biggest determining factor for what Kentucky will look like will be the head coaching hire. Some fans have pined for coaches like Billy Donovan, Dan Hurley and Nate Oats. Donovan and Hurley seem very unlikely, but it does not hurt to ask. Oats has already ruled himself out when he posted a statement affirming his commitment to Alabama.

Other names that could be in play are Scott Drew of Baylor and Bruce Pearl of Auburn. Scott Drew seems to be the name with the most buzz as of right now, but it is early in the process. It will be worth monitoring this process, as the next coach will determine how the program approaches things.

As stated before, Kentucky relied on NBA talent and one-and-done types of players, leaving them with young rosters the majority of the time. Calipari received criticism for not adapting and building rosters with older players who stayed in college longer.

A hire like Drew could make sense, as what he built a sustainable program at Baylor and won a national title in 2021. He could bring stability to a Kentucky program that badly needs it.