Mark Pope landed his second recruit from the class of 2025 on Thursday afternoon as five-star shooting guard Jasper Johnson announced that he would be committing to Kentucky.
“He (Pope) made a big commitment, took a lot of time and spoke with me, so I feel like trust was there between me and him,” Johnson said.
The highly touted 6-foot, 4-inch scorer had over 20 Division-I offers including some from top-tier programs like Kansas, Illinois and Baylor, however, on July 24, he chopped his list down to five schools including Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisville and North Carolina.
Johnson, who is from Lexington, became the fifth Kentucky native to commit to UK in the past three years as Reed Sheppard (North Laurel) committed to Kentucky in 2023 while Travis Perry (Lyon County) and Trent Noah (Harlan County) committed this year and Malachi Moreno (Great Crossing) was the first get for Pope from the 2025 class.
“Being from Lexington, Kentucky, I mean I feel like that was an easy decision right there,” Johnson said.
Johnson began his high school career at Woodford County High School in Kentucky before transferring to Link Academy. For his senior season, Johnson declared for the Overtime Elite Draft, following in the footsteps of former Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham.
In terms of scoring, 247Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein described Johnson as “a southpaw scoring guard who has spurts of extreme tough shot-making when he gets hot.”
“He has a super soft natural touch and is very crafty around the lane with a deep bag of runners, floaters, and other types of finishes, in addition to the jumpers and step-backs he’s capable of making from the perimeter,” Finkelstein wrote.
Kentucky now has two official commits from the 2025 class in Johnson and Moreno and will still look to solicit Cameron and Cayden Boozer, along with Tounde Yessoufou and other elite prospects.
