Acaden Lewis, a four-star high school basketball recruit, decommits from UK
A major shakeup to Kentucky basketball’s projected 2025-26 roster occurred Thursday night.
Acaden Lewis — a 6-foot-2 guard from Washington, D.C. — decommitted from the UK program.
Lewis is a four-star prospect and a top-30 recruit nationally. He was one of three high school recruits set to join Mark Pope’s Kentucky program next season, along with fellow guard Jasper Johnson and in-state center Malachi Moreno, a McDonald’s All-American and the 2025 Kentucky Mr. Basketball.
Lewis told ESPN of his decommitment from the Wildcats.
“I will always be grateful to Coach Pope and the entire Kentucky staff for believing in me,” Lewis said in a statement to ESPN. “It is clear Kentucky is a special place with an amazing fanbase, but as I reflect on what is best for my future, I have decided to re-open my recruitment. This was an incredibly difficult decision, but after a lot of discussion with my family and people I trust, I feel this is necessary. This is not in any way a reflection of any negative feelings towards Coach Pope and Kentucky. I appreciate your understanding and am excited for what the future holds.”
Lewis’ decommitment from the Cats comes after Kentucky added one guard — former Pittsburgh sophomore Jaland Lowe — from the transfer portal this offseason. On Friday afternoon, UK officially announced the additions of both Lowe and former Alabama sophomore forward Mouhamed Dioubate for next season’s roster.
Kentucky is also targeting other guards in the portal, including former Sam Houston guard Lamar Wilkerson, who is expected to visit Kentucky this weekend.
Lewis — who is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 30 overall recruit in the 2025 high school class — originally committed to UK in November, choosing Kentucky over Duke and UConn, the other finalists in his recruitment.
Moreno was the first class of 2025 recruit to commit to Pope and the Wildcats, doing so last August. Johnson followed in September. Then, Lewis was the last of the three to commit to UK when he did so in November.
There was plenty of significance attached to Pope recruiting Lewis to UK. Lewis represented the first high school prospect without previous ties to the commonwealth that Pope successfully recruited to the Wildcats.
Moreno plays for Great Crossing High School in Georgetown and recently won a Kentucky high school state championship in Rupp Arena. Johnson is part of a family steeped in UK Athletics history: His father, Dennis, is a former Harrodsburg, UK and NFL football player. Johnson began his prep career at Woodford County High School, where Dennis serves as the head football coach and athletics director.
Pope’s recruitment of Lewis was highlighted by the personal approach taken by the UK coach.
“Pope, he was in the ‘hood with me,” Lewis said when he committed to Kentucky in November. “He came to my barbershop and everything.”
“You can understand (someone) better when you can understand the context of their life a little bit. I think that’s really true,” Pope told the Herald-Leader last November in a one-on-one interview. “Acaden’s mom is going to know him better than everyone, his dad is going to know him better, the guys in his community, at the rec center and the barbershop and everywhere else. They know him. They know him in a way that I don’t. Getting to watch him interact in those environments and trying to build relationships with all the people around him helps me understand him better.”
Lewis first took an unofficial visit to Kentucky last June, during which he picked up his UK scholarship offer. Lewis was also Kentucky’s top visitor for Big Blue Madness in October.
Kentucky got the final official visit from Lewis in his initial recruitment. He took a trip to UConn in September and to Duke in October for the Blue Devils’ annual Countdown to Craziness event.
How does Acaden Lewis’ decommitment impact the UK basketball roster?
Kentucky’s projected roster for next season is now down to 11 scholarship players.
Those players are projected returning freshmen guards Collin Chandler and Travis Perry, freshman forward Trent Noah, sophomore center Brandon Garrison and junior guard Otega Oweh.
Additionally, UK is set to bring in four players from the transfer portal: Dioubate, Lowe, former Arizona State freshman big man Jayden Quaintance and former Tulane freshman wing Kam Williams.
Kentucky’s 2025 high school recruiting class is now made up of only Johnson and Moreno, who are both five-star prospects. Johnson is ranked as the No. 18 prospect nationally by the 247Sports Composite, while Moreno is slotted in at No. 27.
Both Johnson and Moreno qualify as the highest-ranked high school recruits to ever commit to a Pope-led program.
Kentucky’s 2025 high school recruiting class — featuring only Johnson and Moreno — is now ranked 24th in the country by 247Sports. This is a drop of 18 spots compared to its previous ranking with Lewis included.
UK is still involved in the recruitment of high school senior Nate Ament, a five-star power forward from Virginia. Ament is down to five schools in his college recruitment: Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky, Louisville and Tennessee.
Ament is the highest-ranked uncommitted prospect in the 2025 recruiting class.
This story was originally published April 10, 2025 at 10:01 PM.
