Where does Kentucky stand with five-star Jasper Johnson as he nears a commitment?

Will Kentucky land five-star guard Jasper Johnson?

Team Thad’s Jasper Johnson (2) lays the ball up against Team Oak Soldiers’ Doug Langford (13) 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

The target on the top of Kentucky's board for the 2025 class is five-star guard Jasper Johnson. He is ranked as the number ten player in the 2025 class according to 247Sports composite rankings.

Johnson is from the state of Kentucky and attended Woodford County High School before transferring out of state. He grew up 30 minutes from Rupp Arena, and his dad played football at Kentucky. All of this to say Johnson is a player that needs to be a member of Kentucky's 2025 recruiting class.

It seems like Johnson is narrowing his list of schools and getting closer to making a decision on where he will play his college hoops. For a few weeks, it has seemed like Kentucky was trailing both Alabama and North Carolina in the recruitment of Johnson, but could that be changing?

Last night, Johnson was in Rupp Arena to watch Kentucky's alumni team, La Familia, play in TBT. Johnson met all of the current Kentucky players and had a conversation with Coach Pope. While this is just a gut feeling, it feels like this experience in Rupp Arena could have gotten the Wildcats back in the race for one of the best shooters in the 2025 class.

It would be excruciating for the Big Blue Nation to have to watch Johnson play in another uniform, so Coach Pope needs to do everything in his power to land the elite guard. Hopefully, the experience at Rupp Arena for the La Familia game will show Johnson he has to play his college hoops at Kentucky.