Woodford County sophomore Jasper Johnson is the “real deal”

Jasper Johnson added a scholarship offer from Louisville Friday. (Twitter Photo)

Woodford County sophomore Jasper Johnson continues to live up to the hype that has made him so highly ranked in the 2025 recruiting class.

The four-star guard already has offers from Cincinnati, Memphis, Texas A&M and Xavier. He got an offer from Louisville Friday. Kentucky, Arkansas, Notre Dame and Ohio State are among the others who have been in close contact.

Ballard coach Greg Willis had not seen Johnson play until facing him in the White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic last  month — and he was impressed.

“He certainly is the real deal. You see the shots he hits, including one from 35 to 40 feet. He has got it all. He has the full package. I was really impressed with him,” Willis said.

“He showed good maturity and poise against us. Sometimes sophomores when teams try to take you away with pressure, they will get a little rattled. I didn’t see any of that out of him. He played hard and made his teammates better. I am not sure there is a weakness in his game.”

He recently had a game with 37 points, four rebounds and three assists and followed it the next night with 35 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Johnson followed that with another 31-point performance.

Johnson is averaging 21 points and three rebounds per game while shooting 49 percent overall from the field and 42 percent from 3. He’s a 75 percent free throw shooter.

“His maturity was so impressive. We have played against so many good guards and we try to deny them and trap them and they will get flustered and rattled and lose their cool. Him not showing any of that was impressive,” Willis said. “Put him with some bigs and shooters (in college) and he will be tough to guard.”

Woodford County coach Jaron Brown, a former Bryan Station star who was a 1,000-point scorer at Pittsburgh, likes that his talented sophomore “tries to be a good leader and teammate” as well as a scorer.

“He can be elite. He just has to keep working. Defense and strength are two things he can do better,” Brown said.  “He has all the offense and the skills. Improving his defense and adding strength will make him a great player.

“He is better this year. His shooting range has got a lot better. He’s always working on his game.”

Johnson’s father, Dennis, is a former three-sport Harrodsburg High School star who earned all-SEC football honors at Kentucky before playing in the NFL. It’s not unusual for the Woodford sophomore and his father to be in the gym before school or even after games.

Brown thinks having a father and basketball coach who both drive him is hard but is also a good thing for his future.

“He knows what he has to do to get to the next level because we have both been there. We want the best for him and we are going to push him even though he might not like it sometimes,” Brown said.  “But at the end of the day I think he is satisfied with what we are doing because he can see himself getting better.

“He doesn’t really show any emotion which I think is a good thing. He doesn’t let nobody get to him. He just plays hard the whole game. He will pass, score or try to help his teammates any way he can and just plays his game.”

Brown’s son, Aden Nelson, also plays football and basketball like Jasper Johnson and the two have known each other since second grade. Nelson recently signed a football scholarship with West Virginia.

Nelson said there are times you “want to mentally check out” when their fathers/coaches are pushing them but they also realize that is what they need.

‘We actually joke about that all the time. Sometimes with dad being the coach it can be frustrating. In football sometimes I have to there for him and in basketball he has to be there for me. That works out well for both of us,” Nelson said.

Recruiting figures to only intensify for Johnson as he continues to progress.

“I think he is really enjoying it (recruiting) so far and it is going to get a whole lot more intense and hectic,” Brown said. “There are still a lot of people who have not seen him yet and once they do they are going to like what they see.”