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.
