Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno are staying home to play at UK. Mark Pope explains why.
There’s a prevailing, and perhaps lazy, narrative when it comes to two of Kentucky basketball’s three signees in the 2025 recruiting class.
The first two players to commit to UK coach Mark Pope in the 2025 class — guard Jasper Johnson and center Malachi Moreno — are both Kentucky natives who opted to stay home for college.
To be clear, both commitments are significant on-court additions for the Cats next season, especially when paired with point guard Acaden Lewis from Washington, D.C.
Johnson — a left-handed, 6-foot-4, 175-pound guard — is a consensus five-star recruit who is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 16 player in the 2025 class. Moreno — a 6-foot-11, 230-pound center — is a four-star prospect and the No. 28 player in the class.
Johnson’s blend of scoring punch and offensive versatility will be a welcomed skill set. So too will be Moreno’s post presence and rim protection.
But the dominant factor in the discourse about each player’s addition has been their background.
Johnson is the son of former Harrodsburg, UK and NFL football player Dennis Johnson, and the grandson of former UK athletics administrator Alvis Johnson. Johnson’s prep basketball journey began at Woodford County and he led the Versailles school to the semifinals of the Sweet 16 state tournament in 2023.
Moreno is a star big man at Georgetown’s Great Crossing, and he’s the preseason favorite to earn Kentucky Mr. Basketball honors in 2025 as the state’s top high school senior. Last season, Moreno guided the Warhawks to the Sweet 16 semifinals.
Obviously, keeping top Kentucky high school basketball talent home for college is a goal for Pope at UK.
But, during an extensive sit-down interview with the Herald-Leader on Thursday afternoon, Pope made it clear that — preexisting Kentucky connections or not — he recruited both Johnson and Moreno for what they can offer the UK program.
“I didn’t recruit Jasper or Malachi, independently, because they’re from the state of Kentucky,” Pope told the Herald-Leader. “… It’s insanely convenient that both Jasper and Malachi are in the state. But if Jasper was playing in California and Malachi was playing in the former Yugoslavia, I would still be recruiting those guys like crazy.”
Mark Pope sees plenty of upside with Malachi Moreno
Pope is especially bullish about Moreno, who became his first class of 2025 commitment when Moreno pledged to become a Wildcat on Aug. 16 in a ceremony held inside the Great Crossing gym.
During his weekly press conference Thursday, Pope said Moreno is “probably the best center in all of high school basketball.”
The Herald-Leader asked Pope to expand on that statement. Something that quickly came to the surface was Pope’s appreciation for how he views Moreno as an offensive hub.
As a junior at Great Crossing, Moreno averaged 16 points, 13.3 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. But those already impressive stats say nothing of Moreno’s passing skills, which Pope described as elite.
“He’s got great size and great mobility. He’s got really terrific touch around the rim,” Pope said. “For us, one of the things that’s so important is he’s an elite-level passer.”
Pope’s praise of Moreno didn’t stop there.
“There’s really only two or three high school centers in the country right now that can actually track cutters and make that real-time decision as well as I’ve seen Malachi do it,” Pope added. “And he’s got some physicality to his game. Like, he’ll get really physical. And I also think he’s got a huge upside as a guy shooting the ball.”
There’s good news for Pope and Kentucky fans on this front, too.
After Moreno attempted only 13 shots from 3-point range last season, Great Crossing head coach Steve Page is planning to let him step out and shoot more frequently this season.
When speaking to reporters after Moreno’s commitment to the Cats in August, Page singled out Moreno’s jump shot as part of his still untapped potential.
“Last fall we worked on it a lot and planned to have him shoot one-and-a-half 3s or so a game, and then we got into the flow of the game, it just didn’t work out that way,” Page said. “But he’ll start making those. He’ll start making that shot a little bit more consistently, because he’s a 70% free-throw shooter. If he can shoot free throws, it’s going to eventually translate there (to 3-pointers).”
Mark Pope believes in Jasper Johnson’s defensive potential
Johnson’s reputation as a scorer is well known. Following his time at Woodford County, Johnson spent his junior season on a star-studded roster at Link Academy in Missouri. Now playing his senior season at the Overtime Elite (OTE) program in Atlanta, Johnson’s ability to convert from all three levels on offense is a trademark of his game.
But interestingly, Pope specified Johnson’s defensive potential when assessing his projected impact in Lexington.
“I think he’s got the chance to be a great, slippery defender, and I think he’s got a chance to be a guy that can manage ball screens by himself as a defender,” Pope said. “I think he’s a guy that’s going to be able to maneuver his way through staggers and flares to be there on the catch defensively, which is such a huge principle for us defensively.”
Johnson is, currently, UK’s top-ranked recruit in the 2025 class. In securing his commitment — which came Sept. 5 during a sponsor-filled ceremony at Woodford County’s basketball gym — Kentucky flexed its name, image and likeness operation to hold off strong pursuits from both Alabama and North Carolina.
Johnson has spoken at length before to the Herald-Leader about his choice to follow his family’s legacy at UK. The phrase “K-Y ‘til I die” is a common refrain for him.
But now, there’s tangible evidence of the playing style Johnson is about to join.
Pope’s Wildcats are off to a 3-0 start this season, punctuated by Tuesday’s win over Duke in the Champions Classic in Atlanta.
While Johnson didn’t attend the game, he spoke to the Herald-Leader on Wednesday afternoon about his early impressions of a Pope-led program.
“It was a great performance,” Johnson said of UK’s comeback victory against the Blue Devils. “Coach Pope coached a really good game, (the) players played well. Did what they needed to do on both sides of the floor to impact the game. I really enjoyed the playing style and the energy that was brought and the environment.”
In general, what are Johnson’s takeaways from Pope’s first three games as Kentucky coach?
“It’s a really efficient way of coaching,” Johnson said. “I know with their schemes and the way that they play, it’s really hard to defend and stuff like that. I think they’re going to be a really good team this season. I’m really excited to watch.”
Johnson’s playing experience in a variety of settings — from a ball-dominant style at Woodford County and on the Nike grassroots circuit, to a more off-ball role at Link Academy — theoretically will also make him more malleable when playing with Lewis, his fellow freshman backcourt recruit.
Johnson and Lewis already have playing experience together from an offseason summer camp run by NBA star Damian Lillard that both prospects took part in.
“I know both of us can pass, shoot, score, at a high level from anywhere,” Johnson said of pairing up with Lewis. “So, me getting him involved, him getting me involved, taking different roles depending on how the game goes, how the scheme is. (We) both can defend. … I’m really excited to play with him.”
