Kentucky basketball lands crystal ball for its top target in the 2025 class

Mark Pope could land his top 2025 target.

Jasper Johnson (2) stands on the court during an AAU basketball game July 5, 2023, at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C. A Woodford County native, Johnson holds scholarship offers to play at Louisville and Kentucky and is considered one of the top guards in the Class of 2025. / Brooks Holton / USA TODAY NETWORK

Since the second Mark Pope took the job as the head coach at Kentucky, his top target was Jasper Johnson, and it looked for a while that the Wildcats were out of this race.

Over the last few weeks, and especially when Malachi Moreno committed to Kentucky, the hype for Kentucky to land Johnson picked up, and that hype seems to be hitting a peak.

Multiple crystal balls have been logged for the Wildcats to land Johnson, but the most important is coming from Travis Branham of 247Sports. Branham is 93% all-time when it comes to crystal ball predictions, and he has gone five for five so far in the 2025 class. One of these correct predictions in the 2025 class was for Moreno just a little over a week ago.

This means when Branham logs a prediction for a team to land a recruit, he isn't wrong often.

Johnson will be committing at some point next week, so Big Blue Nation will be able to rest after he makes his decision, and now it looks like Kentucky is in the driver's seat.

Kentucky doesn't produce a ton of five-star talent aside from a recent run of great players over the last few years, so Coach Pope needs to land these players when they pop up.

If Johnson picks Kentucky, Coach Pope will be 2-0 when it comes to the elite in-state talent in the 2025 class. Jonhson picking Kentucky would quickly quiet the Pope can't recruit discussions. Mark Pope will be able to land elite talent during his Kentucky tenure.