Kentucky predicted to miss on an elite five-star guard in the 2025 class

Mark Pope has to make a late push to land this elite guard.

Woodford County point guard Jasper Johnson battles Warren Central guard Damarion Walkup for control of the ball in the second half of Saturday's KHSAA Boys Sweet 16 semifinal. The Yellowjackets fell to the Dragons 56-48. March 18, 2023 / Matt Stone/Louisville Courier Journal /

One of the top players on Kentucky's board for the 2025 class is five-star guard Jasper Johnson. He is from Kentucky and has a ton of family ties to UK. Other schools like Alabama and North Carolina are in it for Johnson, and it sounds like the Wildcats are trying to make a comeback.

Popular high school recruiting X/Twitter page @HSTopRecruiting predicted Johnson to end up at Alabama but believes the Wildcats are making a comeback.

HS Top Recruits had this to say about where Johnson will end up, "Kentucky, I believe, is making an interesting comeback. His father and grandpa played football at Kentucky, and that connection is strong, obviously. I also think it’s a good sign that he was in attendance for the UK alumni TBT game. I think it’s truly hard for a Kentucky kid to choose elsewhere at times, especially someone like him who has those connections and has attended Kentucky games and events for a lifetime. This is where the uncertainty of Coach Pope hurts them, though. Relationships matter a lot in recruiting and Pope has a lot of ground to make up there despite all the other advantages. Nate Oats's offense is a systematic fit for Jasper, who is known for his shooting as well. For now, I give the Tide the nudge but think the longer it goes on, the better it could be for Kentucky."

Coach Pope is trying to catch up to Nate Oats in this race, as Johnson is one of the top ten players in the class and an elite shooter. He is a perfect fit for both Pope and Oats's offenses, so it will be interesting to see where Johnson ends up. This would be a painful miss for the Kentucky coaching staff if Johnson ended up at another school, especially an SEC school.