Seven times in a 13-minute interview, Word of God Christian Academy coach Byron Williams keeps returning to one word to assess his team's star player, Jayden Quaintance.

"Scary."

Williams uses it to describe Quaintance's day-to-day production. His ferocious, posterizing dunks on teammates at practice. And, most often, to characterize his potential.

"I think, when his time comes, he's going to be the No. 1 draft pick, because his ceiling is so high," Williams told The Courier Journal in a recent phone interview. "He's the ultimate stretch four. At his size now, at 6-10, he doesn't even have to get any bigger. But he's gonna get bigger and stronger."

It's that tantalizing skill set that has made the 6-foot-10, 235-pound Quaintance one of the most coveted players in the 2024 class. Kentucky has prioritized him. The Wildcats offered in June. And last week, UK coach John Calipari and assistant Chin Coleman made an in-home visit with the consensus five-star prospect. Quaintance took an official visit to Ohio State earlier this month and to Missouri last week. Official visits to Cincinnati and Kentucky are on tap next month.

Once the Kentucky visit wraps up, Quaintance plans to make a decision, which could include forgoing college altogether in favor of joining NBA G League Ignite.

"We'll sit down with Jayden and kind of give him the pros and cons about the schools," Jayden's father, Haminn Quaintance, told The Courier Journal, "and kind of see what we're thinking, see what his mother is thinking."

The primary factor, Haminn said, is what's best for his son's future.

"That's something we talked about with Coach Cal, the guys at Ignite: We know Jayden has got all the tools to be (the No. 1 overall pick)," Haminn said. "But you've got to keep the main thing the main thing. That's working. If you go to college, you work to win a national championship, try to win player of the year. Let's do that and all that other stuff will take care of itself."

The elder Quaintance noted G League Ignite is an attractive option because basketball is a player's sole responsbilitiy.

"They're giving you pretty much everything you need to know for the next level, because they're preparing for that," he said. "Somebody like Calipari, he's had a lot of first-round draft picks. So every situation has its pros and cons."

Haminn's background is an asset as his son gets ready for his next step. Haminn played collegiately at Jacksonville University before transferring to Kent State. Then he spent time in professional leagues across the world, from Finland and Germany to Australia and Japan — and destinations in between.

"I probably know the game better than most of the people that are recruiting my son," he said. "So our conversations are a bit different. They just can't say anything to me. It has to make sense. I know what I'm looking for. I know what I'm looking to hear."

There were times he had to "hit back" at what others said. Not that it "turned me off to them," Haminn said. But he tread carefully.

He didn't have to do that with Calipari. Some of Haminn's former pro teammates had played for Calipari in college. They constantly praised their former coach.

"We like Kentucky," Haminn said. "That's one of our top schools."

As the Wildcats have continued recruiting Jayden, one name the elder Quaintance said hasn't surfaced during their conversations is UK's only 2024 commit, Somto Cyril. Though Quaintance and Cyril competed in the Overtime Elite league last season, they didn't have a chance to form much of a connection; Cyril was part of the in-house OTE roster, while Quaintance played for Word of God, an affiliate team at the time.

"Jayden is real quiet, so he don't really talk too much," Haminn said. "So I don't think him and Somto got much of a relationship. I'm sure they will, at some point, if Kentucky ends up being the move."

Talking more, at least on the court, is what Haminn challenges his son to do more.

As it is, Williams said Jayden has almost no weakness.

"Jayden has just been developed to train and train and train," Williams said. "We talk about him being able to do a lot of stuff — initiate the offense, bring the ball up the floor, but never get away from your bread and butter. He's so good in the paint that you want him to continue to get better in the paint. But he's so coachable. I just want him to keep growing and staying healthy."

The hype around Quaintance already is at a fever pitch.

He's only 16 years old. He won't turn 17 until July. He reclassified from the 2025 class to 2024, where he is now ranked as the nation's No. 7 overall player, according to the 247Sports Composite. And he's considered among the country's top talents of any age.

Last month, SB Nation tabbed him the No. 5 NBA prospect — regardless of class — in high school basketball.

For Haminn, all the attention on his son is easy to ignore.

"I keep it as small as I can," he said. "We don't really do too much. We just keep working. … That's basically it. We just stick to basketball."

His humble personality and temperament are a coach's dream.

"Any time you can get that, you can lead a group of young men very easily," he said. "If you can punish him and redirect him and coach him hard — your best player — the other kids just tend to fall in line. Everybody is trying to get to where he's at."

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Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball recruiting: Jayden Quaintance offers include Cats