Kentucky's top target in the 2025 class cuts list of schools down to five

Kentucky has to land this elite 2025 guard.

Team Thad’s Jasper Johnson (2) jumps in the air to dunk the ball during a game against Team Oak Soldiers during the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League session one on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at the Memphis Sports & Event Center in Memphis, Tenn. / Stu Boyd II-The Commercial Appeal / USA

One of Kentucky's top targets in the 2025 class is five-star guard Jasper Johnson. He is ranked as the tenth-best player in the 2025 class according to 247Sports composite rankings.

Part of the reason Johnson is a top target for Kentucky in the class is that he is an elite guard who can shoot the ball, but the other reason is that he grew up in Kentucky. Johnson's dad played football at Kentucky, so the five-star guard has a ton of connections to the school.

Johnson recently cut the list of schools he is considering down to five, including Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama, Louisville, and Arkansas. It feels like UNC, Alabama, and Kentucky are currently the frontrunners for Johnson, but it is an open race.

Johnson is nearing a decision, so Coach Mark Pope needs to push as hard as possible to hopefully land a kid from the Bluegrass State who happens to be one of the best shooters in the 2025 class.

It would be tough for Big Blue Nation to watch Johnson play his college hoops in another uniform, so the staff needs to make sure he ends up in Lexington. It won't be an easy race to win, but Coach Pope can get it done.

Here is the scouting report on Johnson from Adam Finkelstein of 247Sports, "Jasper Johnson is a southpaw scoring guard who has spurts of extreme tough shot-making when he gets hot. He has a super soft natural touch and is very crafty around the lane with a deep bag of runners, floaters, and other types of finishes, in addition to the jumpers and step-backs he’s capable of making from the perimeter. Physically, Johnson is lean, but he’s very long with a recorded +5 wingspan. In addition to building up his body, he also needs to learn to impact the game more when the ball isn’t in his hands, or more specifically when he’s not on one of his scoring sprees."