By LARRY VAUGHT
Jasper Johnson is a 6-foot-4 guard with elite shooting skills who has strong family connections to Kentucky and has proven himself on a national level the last two seasons as well as in recent national all-star games.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope targeted Johnson almost immediately in his 2025 recruiting class after he got the job at Kentucky and now has huge expectations for the incoming freshman who played with Overtime Elite last season.
“I think Jasper Johnson is a superstar. I expect him to come in here and be great,” Pope said last week.
That’s how Pope answered my question about his expectations for Johnson next season. While Pope always is positive about individual players, that was a strong endorsement for a player who has not even gone through a college practice.
“For every freshman, there is a learning curve in terms of the physicality and intensity of the game, the relentless physicality and intensity of the game. But Jasper Johnson has got a really, really incredible skill set. He’s one of those guys,” the Kentucky coach said. “There are very few players who just go get a shot whenever they want it. He can do it.”
He averaged 20.3 points, 5.8 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game last season while shooting 59 percent from 2-point range and 36 percent from 3. However, Pope heaped praise on Johnson’s defensive ability as well.
“He’s got an ability to get skinny and kind of do things defensively that are going to be surprising,” the Kentucky coach said. “I think he’s got an incredible upside on the defensive side of the ball also. I think he’s got a crafty, slippery nature where he can get downhill.”
Johnson is best known for his deep shooting range and also ability to find ways to finish at the rim. Corey Frazier, his coach at Overtime Elite, had him lifting weights almost every day during the season to add strength so he could finish through contact better in college. Frazier knew versatility was important to be able to succeed in college and knew even though he was an elite shooter from deep, he had to find ways to get better shots and he did this season.
“Jasper was pretty mature already when he got here and I just wanted to make sure he understood the truth of collegiate basketball,” Frazier said. “Jasper had to learn to understand this is a business in college and it is not just about you. High school can be about you but you are not the only five-star guy at Kentucky.”
Johnson, 19, obviously must have learned all those lessons based on what Pope believes.
“He’s got a poise about him. He’s a little bit unflappable. He’s able to kind of metabolize a lot of input and kind of keep himself even-keeled,” the Kentucky coach said. “I think he’s a big shot maker. I expect him to be, like he needs to come here and be great, and that’s what he wants to do. That’s what we want from him.”
Johnson has continued to put in the work even after his Overtime Elite season ended but also made one major business move. He signed with CAA Sports, the same agency that represents NBA stars Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Karl-Anthony Towns and many others including NFL stars Josh Allen and Saquon Barkley. The client list also includes major league baseball star Shohei Ohtani.
He went straight from the Allen Iverson Classic Johnson where he had 17 points, five rebounds, and four assists in the All-American showcase to the west coast to train thanks to arrangements made by CAA Sports.
He got to work out with Auburn All-American Johni Broome and Duke All-American Cooper Flagg. Both were candidates for national player of the year. Flagg is the consensus pick to go No. 1 in the upcoming NBA Draft.
Another Duke star, Tryese Proctor, was also at the pre-draft workouts along with Mackenzie Mgbako of Maryland, Andrew Meadow of Boise State and Emmanuel Stephen of UNLV.
Kentucky gymnastics just missed qualifying for the national championships as a team this season but it was not from a lack of effort.
“Competing in the SEC, it’s super hard. When we got to regional in Pennsylvania, we definitely put our whole heart out there knowing we were competing against the best of the best,” sophomore Delaynee Rodriguez said. “There’s really like a small margin of error that you can make, but we had an amazing season. Definitely didn’t end the way we wanted to but we put our whole heart out there and that’s all you can do.”
Kentucky gymnastics has raised its expectation level in recent years to where making the national championships is a legitimate goal.
“You want to be the best of the best for sure. Just making it to the regional and super regional, it’s been awesome and it has been an amazing journey. I mean our ultimate goal is to make it to the national championships and will be again next year,” Rodriguez said.
Sophomore Creslyn Brose did make the national championship on floor exercise and earned All-American honors. Brose, Rodriguez and sophomore Sharon Lee will be the foundation for next year’s team because coach Tim Garrison loses five seniors, including two All-Americans, off this year’s team, and has only one returning senior.
“As a class, we’ve all kind of talked and really are trying to all step up as leaders and just guide the newbies in what we want in the legacy that other people left on this team,” Brose said. “We’re excited and we’re ready and hungry to go out and kill the next season.
“We’re actually hosting regionals next year which will be really really cool. It will also just be a familiar place to compete and continue to compete. We’re ready and excited to kind of step into a new role next season.”
Kentucky gymnastics competed in Rupp Arena the previous season while Memorial Coliseum was being renovated. Lee said the atmosphere at Memorial was “electric” all season and inspired the team.
“BBN, you guys really showed up and showed out. Our freshman year were always in Rupp which was amazing and such a cool opportunity but just getting to be a Memorial this year felt so much like home,” Lee said. “The grand opening of Memorial this year and learning the story of Memorial Coliseum really put a lot more meaning into what it really means to represent UK gymnastics.”
Mouhamed Dioubate averaged only 16 minutes per game on Alabama’s deep, talented roster last season but he made a big impression on Kentucky coach Mark Pope with his play against the Wildcats.
“He punished us. I don’t like to say it but he punished us three straight games this season. It was not a happy time for us,” Pope told CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein on a podcast.
However, it was a “happy time” for Pope and Kentucky when Dioubate announced he was transferring to Kentucky.
In the SEC Tournament win over UK, Dioubate played 22 minutes and had 13 points and eight rebounds. The power forward had four points and five rebounds in only 14 minutes in Alabama’s home win over UK and in the first game at Rupp Arena he had eight points and eight rebounds in 15 minutes.
“He shot the ball at a ridiculous clip on low volume,” Pope said. “He was a 43 percent 3-point shooter on low volume. But where he was most dangerous, clearly he’s an elite level defender 1 through 5, very much a (NBA player) Draymond Green feel defensively.”
As a pick and roll ball handler, Pope said Dioubate’s ability was “terrifying” to compete against.
“He is a guy who can really stir the drink for us. The way we invert the game when we have our bigs carrying such a load as decision makers on offense, he is tailor made for what we do,” Pope said. “He’s got these big shoulders and just rams through your chest. His physicality is elite on both the offensive and defensive side. He’s a gamer.”
Kentucky didn’t have anyone like that last season, especially taking a physical lead on defense. He did have foul trouble problems but could afford that due to Alabama’s depth. He fouled out of four games and had four fouls in six other games.
Dioubate hit 64.7 percent from 2-point range as a sophomore after making 53.8 percent as a freshman. Pope likes the way he can overpower smaller defenders going to the rim and Pope is convinced he can make him a more versatile player and even better decision maker.
Tyler Bell was one of the nation’s best high school players in the 2024 recruiting class and was drafted No. 66 overall in the second round in the 2024 Major League Baseball draft by the Tampa Bay Rays but opted to play at Kentucky this season instead.
Bell, a shortstop from Illinois, has been as advertised both offensively and defensively.
Bell is second on the team with 10 home runs, tying him Chris Gonzalez (1993) for the most by a freshman in UK history. He leads the team with 46 runs batted-in and has reached base in 51 of 52 games this season. He has 66 hits and has also drawn 20 walks. Defensively, he has a .980 fielding percentage.
Former UK baseball coach Keith Madison, an analyst for the UK Radio Network, expected Bell to be good but has been surprised with how good his overall play has been going into SEC Tournament play.
“He is very talented, has good character and is both a good hitter and defender,” Madison said. “He has all the things you like to see in a shortstop in the SEC. I really don’t remember him making a freshman mistake all season. Nobody is perfect but his maturity is off the charts for someone his age. He just knows how to play the game.”
Madison feels Bell and second baseman Luke Lawerence, Bell’s roommate, give UK consistently good play in the middle of the defense.
“They play very well together. That doesn’t always show up in the box score, but they don’t make the kind of mistakes that cost you runs and pitchers love that,” Madison said.
Receivers coach L’Damian Washington is trying to fit together almost a new group of players that hopefully can put more explosiveness into the Kentucky offense next season. However, the receivers are dependent on having a quarterback who has time to throw and then can get the ball to them.
Transfer Zach Calzada came out of spring practice as the perceived No. 1 quarterback with redshirt freshman Cutter Boley as his backup.
“To be honest with you, and I’m not just saying this, I think all those guys have done a really good job,” Washington said about the quarterbacks. “(Offensive coordinator) Bush (Hamdan) has done a really good job preaching competition with those guys.
“Whether it is Beau (Allen), Brennen (Ward), Stone (Saunders) or Zach or Cutter, our job is to get open out there and do our job and catch the ball and block for the running backs and tight ends.
The Cats added freshmen receivers DJ Miller, Montavin Quisenberry, Quintin Simmons, Preston Bowman and Cameron Miller. From the transfer portal UK brought in Hardley Gilmore of Nebraska, Ashton Cozart of SMU, JJ Hester of Oklahoma, Kendrick Law of Alabama and Troy Stellato of Clemson.
The only returning receivers are JaMori Maclin, Fred Farrier and David Washington.
“I like the talent and diversity we have. But the main thing is we have to be able to catch the ball and block. It’s not that complicated,” the UK coach said.
Quote of the Week: “We want to play the hardest schedule. We want to play the best teams. We want to win the most games. We want to have the best players. Want to have the highest NIL. We have the coolest uniforms. We should be the best at everything. This is Kentucky,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope defining the Kentucky standard.
Quote of the Week 2: We used to go at each other back in high school. So those were fun days. He’s a great athlete. I mean, he’s 7-1. He blocks everything. It’s definitely fun to go against him,” UK incoming transfer Reece Potter on playing against UK signee Malachi Moreno.
Quote of the Week 3: “He’s so hungry right now. He’s been working really, really hard. I don’t know how many workouts he did on his wedding day, but I’m guessing it was more than one, and he’s gonna have a really special year next year,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope on sophomore guard Collin Chandler.