Jasper Johnson with his parents at the Chris Brickley Invitational.
Dennis Johnson quickly admits he really had “no idea” how big of an event the Chris Brickley Invitational was when his son, Jasper Johnson, got invited to play in the all-star game.
Brickley is one of the most famous NBA trainers and decided in 2023 to bring in 20 of the nation’s top high school players for his own all-star game in Chicago.
“They played in a venue in Chicago on the top floor of an office building that was really, really nice,” said Dennis Johnson.
Brickley, a former University of Louisville basketball player, had many of the nation’s best players in Chicago, including Dylan Harper, a five-star guard who turned down Kansas and Auburn to sign with Rutgers.
Jasper Johnson, a 6-4 five-star junior guard, has 20 scholarship offers, including Kentucky. He was MVP for his team with 32 points and went 8-for-9 from 3-point range in the game.
“It was really a great event,” Dennis Johnson, the football coach/athletics director at Woodford County, said. “They had a photoshoot, did individual position workouts, had spa recovery time and even got to tour the Wilson plant where they got to test footballs and basketball and see what they liked and didn’t like.
“They had about 60 media people there along with some scouts and business people.”
Jasper Johnson, who transferred from Woodford to Link Academy in Missouri last year for his junior season, won several individual one-on-one games and then played “really well” according to his father in the all-star game.
“He started off hot. I was kind of nervous because all these kids were really good. Some had already signed with colleges,” Dennis said. “He started off on fire. He got a dunk, got some steals. He just kept hitting shots. Him and Dylan Harper really went at each other. It was just a good, fun environment and Jasper got to meet a lot of people.”
Jasper, 17, has spent some time at home this week but will be back on the Nike EYBL circuit this weekend in Indianapolis.
“You have got to perform every single day. That’s the hard part,” Dennis said. “One bad game and somebody wants to take your spot. You have to keep making yourself known and proving what you can do.”
Nike EYBL has another session May 24-27 in Kansas City but Jasper is scheduled to be at the USA Basketball under 18 training camp in Colorado Springs May 23. The team that will head to Buenos Aires June 1 to compete in the international championship will be announced May 25 and then stay in Colorado Springs to practice. If he makes the team he will not return from Buenos Aires until June 10.
Johnson has also been invited to the NBPA Top 100 High School Basketball Camp June 8-13. He tentatively has an official visit scheduled to Alabama June 16-18.
Johnson’s team will also qualify for the Nike EYBL Peach Jam July 13-21 if it plays well in Indianapolis this weekend even if he has to miss the event in Kansas City.
“Fortunately he is a level headed kid who just loves basketball,” Dennis said. “The bigger the moment, the more he gets after it. He loves the big environments and that’s normally when he plays his best.”
Jasper did get a chance recently to relax a bit for a few days when he went to North Carolina with his brother as well as agent Nate Conley. He even got to stay at legendary NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin’s home in Charlotte for two nights.
“He has a basketball court, putting green, even a race car in his house,” Dennis said. “The boys really had a great time there and it was a good time for Jasper. But he knows he still has a lot of work to do this summer.”
Numerous schools would like the 6-4 guard to reclassify and play college basketball next season. However, the Johnson family continues to monitor what will be best for Jasper’s future.
“Ultimately what he does will be his decision and there is a lot to think about but we want to try and make sure what he does is what is best for his long-term future,” Dennis said.
7 Responses
Been watching him since the 7th grade.
He’s so smooth you won’t believe it.
We might hang 9 with Travis, Trent, Jasper and Malachi
That would be a nice collection of Kentucky kids on a Kentucky team that would make our 2025/26 team a force to be reckoned with. It reminds me of when Larry Johnson, Jack Givens, and James Lee played prominent roles for Kentucky with the latter two helping to bring home No. 5 to Lexington.
What’s the one thing that sticks out about his playing style?
He can be a lights out shooter like Dillingham was, but he has fewer turnovers and plays defense.
I hope we go after Maywood too. There is so much talent in the state of Kentucky. I would like to have all of them. The good thing about the portal is if there isn’t room this year there will always be room next year. The way college sports is headed we might need farm teams. Like the NBA has the g league. Maybe guys can go to western or Eastern for a year or 2 then transfer. I would rather play for a couple years then come to Kentucky instead of being buried on the end of the bench for a couple years. It helps playing more than watching. This kid is the cream of the crop in next years Kentucky class. I think we get Johnson and Moreno. Pope has gave his pitch to Magwood already. I think Ty Price signs with a power 5 team and depending on how he performs will be the decision of the coaches if he comes back home.
I also got time to check Taylen Kinney out for the first time. Watching his highlights and some game action and I was very impressed. I don’t see Pope offering 5 or 6 Kentucky kids scholarships next year but the talent is there in the class of 2025. There is 7 or 8 very very very good Kentucky kids in next years class. I think Pope goes after the best 2 or possibly 3. If that class was in the 2024 class I think he would have definitely signed 3 or maybe even 4 of them. Next year recruiting won’t be as hectic. In my opinion right now I think we retain Garrison, Chandler, Perry, Noah, and Oweh. Depending on how Garrison and Oweh perform this year I think they both come back for another year. Next years NBA draft will be much better than this year. Its crazy before the year started everyone thought dillingham would be here 2 years and Reed 3-4 years. With Wagner Edwards Bradshaw Big Z Ugo and possibly Thiero going Pro after this past year. The opposite happened it shows that the experts aren’t really experts they just believe what the next "expert" tells them. Not to toot my own horn but I called dillingham being the best freshman of the bunch. Reed completely surprised me tho. I thought he would log minutes maybe 10-12 minutes per game but he really surprised me. I think out of Noah Perry and Chandler we get another surprise but I’m going to go with Chandler. He’s scary athletic and a underrated shooter. I guarantee that we are in great hands with Pope. I was a little nervous with the roster reconstruction but he handled it better than well. At first I said I’d be happy if we win more games than we lose his first year. Now I’m looking at the players he’s gotten and saying right now were a tournament team. Maybe in the sweet 16 range maybe a little better maybe a little worse. If we can get the 2 transfers he’s after that would take us to the top by a couple more notches and I’d be comfortable saying we have a final 4 team or better. But people this is his first year with very limited time. Every year after this year will probably be even better. He has the right nucleus of players who will stick around and ride this thing out. Ill go even farther than that and say in the next 4 years Idk when yet but Kentucky will win a championship in the next 3-4 years maybe sooner we will see. I’m super excited.
Go ahead and toot it.