These UK basketball players are trying to recruit high school stars to Kentucky
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- Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno are about to begin their college careers at Kentucky.
- Johnson and Moreno are both five-star prospects from the 2025 recruiting class.
- The UK program doesn’t yet have a commit from the 2026 class.
Mark Pope’s first full high school recruiting class at Kentucky was a fruitful one, headlined by a pair of five-star freshmen and a first-year player who’s oozing with long-term potential.
But, Pope’s 2025 recruiting class at UK also offered dueling points about the coach’s recruiting ability with the Wildcats.
On one hand, the commitments of Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno were clear-cut victories. Both players finished this year’s recruiting cycle ranked among the top 25 players in the country per the 247Sports Composite and can provide an instant impact this season.
The commonwealth connections held by Johnson, a UK legacy recruit and former star at Woodford County, and Moreno, who won a Sweet 16 state championship at Great Crossing in Georgetown, added to the importance of their additions. But, these ties also reduced the credit Pope was given for successfully recruiting them.
With the focus now squarely on the 2026 recruiting cycle, Pope is still looking to land his first major national recruit with the Wildcats. Kentucky is also seeking its first commitment of any kind from the high school senior class.
In these pursuits, Johnson and Moreno are willing helpers.
During UK’s media day last week, both Johnson and Moreno said they were telling current high school standouts just how good an option Kentucky is.
“I know God has a plan for everybody, and Kentucky may not be that,” Johnson said. “But me, I’m just trying to encourage them. A lot of kids know the University of Kentucky. It speaks for itself. We have a long history of NBA guys, putting people into the league and stuff like that.”
“I kind of just try to put the emphasis that there’s no place like Kentucky,” Moreno said.
Jasper Johnson, Malachi Moreno are recruiting players to Kentucky
From the jump, Moreno was ready to talk recruiting.
Immediately after the Herald-Leader posed a question to him about his relationship with members of the 2026 and 2027 recruiting classes, Moreno mentioned the name of Deron Rippey Jr.
A five-star point guard in the high school senior class, Rippey’s official visit to UK last week crossed over with the team’s media day.
In addition to starting a major recruiting week for the Wildcats, Rippey’s visit also represented the exact kind of recruiting connection that Johnson and Moreno can aid UK with.
Moreno and Rippey have shared the court in several settings before, including at the Under Armour Next Elite 24 showcase in New York City and at a USA Basketball junior national team training camp.
“Those friendships you build at those camps, they stick around for a while,” Moreno said.
This means Moreno has ample time to share his experience at UK with players who are weighing their college options.
“A lot of the guys that I’ve met at camps, we all talk, we always check in with each other, making sure that we’re having a good basketball season,” Moreno said. “But also, I feel like talking to those guys I kind of talk more about outside of basketball things, just to make sure everything’s OK and to let them know ‘If you want to come to Kentucky, the door’s open.’ And if you’re going to come here, you come here for a reason.”
Johnson also participated in that USA Basketball training camp, which also included Pope providing on-court instruction to players.
Unlike Moreno and Rippey, Johnson advanced from that training camp to make the United States team for the 2025 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Switzerland. The Americans cruised to the gold medal at that event, with Johnson averaging 8.0 points, 1.6 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game.
Among Johnson’s 11 teammates with the U.S. at the World Cup were three class of 2026 recruits the Wildcats are still actively pursuing: Caleb Holt, Jordan Smith and top prospect Tyran Stokes.
Holt, a shooting guard, was just in Lexington on an unofficial visit for Big Blue Madness after previously taking an official visit to UK in September. Smith, a combo guard, was also at Rupp Arena for Madness, but he was on his official visit. Stokes, a small forward who is the consensus top recruit in the high school senior class, took an official trip to Kentucky in June. The Wildcats are considered the leader in Stokes’ recruitment.
All three of those recruits are five-star prospects that Pope and company have invested significant resources into recruiting. It won’t hurt to also have current players, like Johnson, lobbying on their behalf.
“I’m still texting some of those guys, recruiting them as well,” Johnson said of his USA Basketball teammates. “Some of them have Kentucky on their list... Coach Pope has been really great to me so far, so I know he’ll be able to do the same thing for the rest of the kids that’s coming in next year.”
When reflecting on his first months as a Kentucky player, Moreno echoed Johnson’s thoughts on Pope.
“There’s always people that will always put that bug in your ear,” Moreno said about recruiting advice. “But at the end of the day, I’m always about competition and I’m always ready to compete. I think Coach Pope gave me that message when he was recruiting me, and I think that’s really what helps him stick out a lot more than others.”
Kentucky basketball still looking for its first class of 2026 recruit
It’s far from panic time regarding Kentucky’s 2026 recruiting class, which currently has no commits.
Underscoring anything said or written about UK’s recruiting endeavors is the position the Wildcats are in with Stokes. Kentucky continues to receive positive recruiting buzz for the 6-foot-7 playmaker, who is originally from Louisville and is the clear-cut best player in the 2026 class.
Regardless, Kentucky basketball observers are keenly aware that the early signing period is only one month away.
UK’s slow start with the 2026 recruiting class is an outlier among SEC programs. Thirteen of the 16 schools in the league have at least one pledge from a class of 2026 player. Auburn, Georgia and Kentucky are the only schools without a commitment from a high school senior.
With the early signing period almost here, Missouri currently projects as having the best 2026 recruiting class in the country, followed by Kansas, Florida State, Michigan and Purdue.
The Jayhawks in particular have been on a tear on the recruiting trail of late. Since landing a commitment from five-star point guard and Northern Kentucky native Taylen Kinney on Sept. 28, Kansas has added pledges from four-star small forward Trent Perry and four-star center Davion Adkins in the 2026 class.
In addition to Holt, Smith and Stokes, other recruiting developments are underway for UK basketball. Four-star class of 2026 center Josh Irving was also on an official visit to Kentucky for Big Blue Madness.
Longtime UK recruiting target Anthony Thompson — a five-star small forward in the high school senior class — will be making his college choice Oct. 21. Thompson has taken three recruiting visits to Kentucky in the past year, but the Wildcats are lagging behind Big Ten schools Indiana and Ohio State in his recruitment.
The Wildcats also now have a recruiting visit on the books from Baba Oladotun, a five-star small forward in the 2026 class who was previously the top overall prospect in the 2027 class before he reclassified.
Also on the horizon is the commitment of five-star center Arafan Diane, who is set to announce his college choice Nov. 19. Kentucky is among the final five schools in the running for Diane, who is originally from Guinea but plays prep basketball in Iowa.
