Kentucky basketball recruiting: Five-star SG Jasper Johnson’s commitment moves Wildcats’ class up to No. 2

Class of 2025 five-star prospect Jasper Johnson, the No. 2-ranked shooting guard in the country and the No. 12 overall recruit, announced his commitment to Kentucky and new Wildcats coach Mark Pope on Thursday in a ceremony at Woodford County High School in Versailles, Kentucky, on CBS Sports HQ and the 247Sports YouTube Channel. 

Johnson chose UK over a lengthy list of suitors that included finalists Louisville, North Carolina, Arkansas and Alabama.

Johnson is a 6-foot-4 prospect at Overtime Elite, the pro league founded in 2021 that has produced the likes of Amen and Ausar Thompson, among others. He spent his junior season at prolific Link Academy in Missouri before transferring to OTE ahead of his senior season, where he has built up a reputation as one of the most well-rounded and versatile guards in the country.

Here’s Johnson’s scouting report from 247Sports Director of Scouting, Adam Finkelstein:

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.

Johnson, who is originally from the Bluegrass State, gives UK its second commitment from a top-25 prospect in the 2025 class – both of whom are Kentucky natives. Four-star center prospect Malachi Moreno chose UK several weeks ago and publicly pitched this week for Johnson to join him.

“He’s one of those guys that I really wanna play with,” Moreno said of Johnson in a podcast this week. “I’ve played against him my whole life and now it’s time we become teammates.”

Kentucky with the commitment will move from No. 13 in the 247Sports national recruiting rankings to No. 2, trailing only Iowa State. Pope and his staff may not be done hunting big names in the 2025 cycle, either, with five-star Koa Peat and Caleb Wilson among several big names still uncommitted and considering the Wildcats.