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This is the week that five-star guard Jasper Johnson should be making his college choice and letting everyone know if he will play at Kentucky, North Carolina or Alabama.
For months, many considered Alabama and North Carolina the leaders. Then it was Alabama and Kentucky and then North Carolina or Kentucky.
Never once did Johnson or his father, Dennis, a former all-SEC football player at UK and former NFL player, rank his likely college choices or eliminate any of those three.
Johnson, a consensus top 15 national recruit, showcased his shooting at the recent Damian Lillard’s Formula Zero Elite Camp and also impressed ESPN recruiting director Paul Biancardi with his shooting with the USA under 18 gold medal team this summer (he had 19 points in the gold medal game). Johnson has been in Los Angeles for the Mamba Camp.
The 6-4 Johnson has deep range and averaged 19.8 points per game in EYBL Peach Jam even though his 3-point shooting was off at 25 percent.
He’s flying to Atlanta today where he will be playing his senior season with Overtime Elite.
Johnson has over 25 scholarship offers. Alabama was the first power-5 school to offer Johnson and coach Nate Oates has never backed off. Two of Johnson’s former teammates, Derrion Reid and Labaron Philon, are 2024 Alabama signees.
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis has possibly recruited Johnson and his family harder than anyone and Johnson has probably made more unofficial visits to UNC than Kentucky. Johnson is also a huge fan of North Carolina alum Michael Jordan.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope has prioritized Johnson since taking over at UK much more than former coach John Calipari ever did.
Recent UK commit Malachi Moreno, one of the nation’s top centers in the 2025 class, made it clear he wants Johnson to join him.
‘You know where home is at, Jasper. Ironically, I have a list of people I want to text after this. I talk to him every now and then. I’m just constantly telling him, ‘There’s no place like home. Like, BBN loves us, and we can say we got to wear Kentucky across our chest.’ It’s a dream we’ve both had since we were little kids,” Moreno said after his commitment.
A source close to Johnson says while Pope and UK are doing everything possible to land Johnson both North Carolina and Alabama have pursued him even harder in the last two weeks.
Apparently all three schools have NIL packages in place that are relatively close and Dennis Johnson has said many times money will not be the deciding factor. Instead, it will be where his son feels is the best fit.
A decision day will be set after Johnson gets settled in Atlanta and the location could depend on what college choice he will make.
8 Responses
You can’t blame a person for trying to get all they can for doing the exact same job but with different companies. That’s called being smart. Johnson doesn’t owe anything to the fans, the state of KY, or UK. Get all you can get from whoever is willing to pay, and go play ball. If the money is similar or isn’t a factor, go where you really want to be. A lot of factors can go into a decision like this and only Jasper and his family know what they are.
I heard from a lot of people close to the program that he was choosing Kentucky about 3 days ago. I think nobody has a clue including him until he puts that Kentucky hat on at his announcement everything is just educated guesses. I think he chooses North Carolina. It’s the only team that he’s remained high on and that hasn’t had a coaching change since they started to recruit him 2 years ago but I could be wrong.
There is more hype than meat to this kid’s game. A 25% three point shooter who can only go to his left resulting in a 38% shooting average and plays half hearted defense. He was 0-11 in one game this Summer. I was a big Jasper Johnson fan until I saw him play this past Summer. His game needs a lot of work and if Kentucky isn’t the school he WANTS to play for, then he should go somewhere else and hope it goes well for him there. Pope will do a better job of developing this kid than any other coach, but that will be a multi-season project. That will require him being a team first player and I don’t see that in his game. Here is where all of the Rah Rahs will start yelling that I am going to be the reason he doesn’t come to UK. All I can say is take a look at his game tape from this Summer and see for yourself. I mean no ill will toward this kid, but his game needs a lot of work.
UNC will get him
He’s a Dwight Anderson personified – smoke – we’ll have enough shooters believe me – every marksman will want to play for the Pope.
Shooters are gonna have a bad night. Not everyone can go get a basket when needed. The Cats can use a guy like Johnson. Pope can’t lose a Ky kid that he’s gone all in on.
Barry, first of all, I kind of owe you an apology. I vehemently defended Cal to anybody that criticized him, including you, multiple times. The Oakland game was the last straw for me. I think Jasper is committing to the Cats next Thursday and we should all be beyond thrilled about an elite KY kid coming to UK. You can’t take one 0-11game and not mention a game where he was 10-13 from 3. Hell, Jody Meeks had a 2-12 from 3 game for the Cats. There is no guarantee he will be a star wherever he goes, but scouts that have watched him more than you and I, thinks he is a stud. I trust Pope’s judgement and I am so excited with his recruiting philosophy. He said he is looking to recruit 3 types of players. The elite players, kids that will be here multiple years, and portal players. I could not be happier with the state of our program. Go Cats!
David, you don’t owe me an apology; I’m just a guy who bleeds blue. I have no animosity to the Johnson kid, just to the "scouts" who assign labels to kids. Do you remember Skal Labissiere? How about Brandon Boston? And then, there’s DJ Wagner who was rated No. 1, a guaranteed OAD superstar. All 3 doomed the Kentucky teams they started for with bad, selfish play that resulted in UK not winning anything in those seasons. Johnson’s game has a lot of similarities to Wagner’s, except Wagner’s defense might have been a little bit better. It can be the same with coaches. Remember Billy Clyde? He was the hottest name in college basketball with the turnaround that he directed at Texas Tech. Then he comes to Kentucky and…well, you know the rest of that story. Then everyone said that John Calipari would be the savior of Kentucky. He put together a championship caliber team in year 1 only to be beat by a 3rd string point guard from West Virginia in the regional final. Two years later, he did win it all, but who couldn’t with Davis and Gilchrist? Speaking of Gilchrist, he was hell on wheels in college, but could never get the corner turned in the pros. Calipari recruited enough talent to have won 5 national titles, but pissed away a sure thing with the 39-1 team just because he didn’t want to hurt Andrew Harrison’s feelings. I think that’s the game that finally made Calipari realize he just didn’t have the command of the Xs and Os to beat good teams with good coaches. Then he gets the lifetime contract and he didn’t have to win anymore and the double digit loss seasons started coming. He was a decent enough coach at UMass and Memphis, though the NCAA said he cheated…just couldn’t pin it on him, but Kentucky was his payday. His players first philosophy gave him a cover for not winning anymore. Then much of BBN turned the heat up on Cal and did what Barnhart wouldn’t do…convince him it was time to move on and move on he did to Fayetteville. He will try to get back in the saddle and coach again, but he is still surrounding himself with OAD wannabes. He will continue to have double digit loss seasons until he either retires or the Hogs fire him; one or the other will take place within 4 years. But back to the Johnson kid. I hope he does sign with UK. His game DOES need a lot of work and Pope is the best coach to bring him along if he will be coachable. He will not be a starter until year 3. Perry and Chandler are much better and the 2025 recruiting is not over. I suspect that the portal will yield another high caliber guard or two as well. With that being said, Johnson will most likely be buried at the bottom of the depth chart for 2025 (and Johnson can see this) but could work his way into starter’s minutes by 2027. My somewhat harsh evaluation of Johnson is honest and intended to deflect criticism from Pope should Johnson decide to go elsewhere. In my view, the only other team really after the kid beside Pope is Calipari. Bama and Carolina have cooled their efforts considerably; that should say something. If Johnson comes to UK, Pope will give him every opportunity but will not make him a pet like Calipari will. If Johnson goes elsewhere, then Pope should not receive any flak about missing on a hometown kid. This 2024 team is going to be good. Pope is going to be revered as the greatest Kentucky coach ever 20 years from now. Kentucky will become the winningest program in men’s basketball again and we will also catch, and then pass UCLA in national titles won within the next 20 years. Like I said David, I bleed blue; but I call a spade a spade. Thank you for the apology; it was not needed, but thanks just the same. Go CATS!!!