Jasper Johnson is UK bound and his father, Dennis, a former UK all-SEC defensive lineman, obviously approved of the choice Thursday. (Kentucky Today Photo)
Mark Pope landed his first major recruit as coach of Kentucky on Thursday as five-star guard Jasper Johnson committed to the Wildcats.
Johnson chose the Wildcats over Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina and Louisville. Johnson was joined by his family and friends at Woodford County’s gymnasium. His father, Dennis Johnson, played football at Kentucky under Hal Mumme and his grandfather is the late Alvis Johnson, a legendary football coach at Harrodsburg High School and later served as an athletics administrator at Kentucky.
Johnson is considered the No. 12 overall recruit in the nation and has been playing for Overtime Elite, based in Atlanta. Johnson will join Great Crossing standout Malachi Moreno, who committed to the Wildcats last month. Moreno is considered the top center in the Class of 2025.
“It’s been a really good experience,” Johnson said. “It’s been a long journey. I spent a lot of hours, you know, as a young kid, dreaming and hoping I would get this opportunity. Being able to be here in this moment right now is a blessing.”
Johnson said he has always wanted to play for Kentucky “from a young age” and added staying close to home is the best decision
“I feel like it was the best decision for me to grow and develop as a student-athlete,” he said. “My parents went there. Being able to have this opportunity being from the city and being able to represent my city and state. I feel like this was the best decision for me.”
Jay Bordas, an assistant coach at Bryan Station, began coaching Johnson in second grade through AAU and knew Johnson was an elite talent from the beginning.
“I told everybody in third grade he would play a professional sport, and they thought I was crazy,” Bordas said. “He’s bred to be a professional — his dad (Dennis) and the Johnsons. I’m just really happy for him. I think he’s going to have a great college and professional career. He’s a great kid from a great family.”
Bordas added that Johnson “does everything extremely well on the court” and his work ethic is unmatched.
“He can shoot it, shoots extremely well, plays at a high level and he’s athletic, more athletic than people know,” Bordas said. “He’s got a great work ethic, I mean, back, even back when he was a little, little guy, he’d get 20 points for me in AAU and Dennis was never satisfied.
“They’d be back in the gym that night — early mornings, late nights, he stays in the gym. He’s just a great guy and his work ethic is unbelievable.”
5 Responses
Mark Pope landed his first major recruit as coach of Kentucky on Thursday as five-star guard Jasper Johnson committed to the Wildcats. Uhhhh not to be the bearer of bad news but our first Major recruit was Moreno. Just because he’s ranked 12 spots behind Johnson doesn’t make him anymore of a big recruit. The recruiting rankings are wrong more than not. Look at Wagner and Bradshaw ranked top 5 and didn’t look very good at all except a couple of games.
Don’t forget Edwards.
I don’t take too much stock on the rankings of the players. All that is to give the so call experts something to write or do.
I agree with all the statements above.
I also think the transfer players were "recruited", if I am not mistaken. A better wording might have been "Pope closed out on his highest ranked high school player."
But as Cats79 stated, I don’t give 2 cents for the ranking number by their name. Give me players that know how to play and willing to work and sacrifice for the team.
Rankings are based on playing against other high school kids, not grown men. Also, rankings are based on how well a kids marketing campaign is run.
It will do Johnson a world of good to be on this team. Practicing against the level of talent that we have at the guard spots will make him better. Pope’s offense will favor him as well when he gets good enough to play major minutes.