‘They did a great job.’ Under a time crunch, Mark Pope delivers recruiting results for UK.

For all the questions that lingered following Mark Pope’s appointment as the Kentucky men’s basketball coach in April, one stuck with UK fans longer than they would have liked.

How well would Pope — whose only previous head coaching experience came at Utah Valley (four seasons) and BYU (five) — recruit at Kentucky?

Sure, Pope arrived with the unique distinction of having won a national title while playing for the Wildcats in 1996, but the fact of the matter was that Pope had never before run a college program of anything close to UK’s magnitude, let alone done the work that comes with recruiting against other brand-name schools with deep pockets.

While the primary task for Pope and his new UK coaching staff was assembling a brand-new roster for the upcoming season, the summer seemed set to pass without UK landing a commitment from any prospect in the well-regarded 2025 recruiting class.

Then, two came in next to no time.

Only 20 days separated the commitments of four-star center Malachi Moreno, a star at Georgetown’s Great Crossing High School, and five-star guard Jasper Johnson, a former Woodford County standout who will play his senior season at Overtime Elite in Atlanta.

When Johnson committed to the Wildcats on Thursday afternoon in a ceremony held inside Woodford County’s gym, it vaulted Kentucky to near the top of the team recruiting rankings for the 2025 class.

“They did a great job,” Dennis Johnson — Jasper’s father and a former Harrodsburg, UK and NFL football player who currently serves as the head football coach and athletic director at Woodford County — said about UK’s recruitment of Jasper under Pope.

“Coach (Jason) Hart and Coach (Alvin) Brooks and Coach Pope, every night they talked to (Jasper). Coach Pope and I were FaceTiming probably for a week and a half straight, just trying to build a relationship.”

Both Moreno and Johnson are Central Kentucky natives who have obvious pulls toward UK. This is especially true for Johnson, whose father was a football star at the school. On Thursday, Dennis went as far as to say that Jasper is a UK fan “deep to his core.”

This certainly gave Pope an edge in his recruitment of both players.

But it’s also true that in a short span of time, Pope and his assistant coaches have logged long hours, traveled thousands of miles and quickly forged relationships with Moreno, Johnson and their families in order to land commitments from each player.

Again, these factors are especially relevant for Johnson, who also considered Alabama and North Carolina among other heavy hitters in his recruitment.

“It didn’t come overnight,” Dennis said about his family’s relationship with Pope. “Alabama and North Carolina had been recruiting him for a lot longer, but I think (Pope) came in with his staff and has done a great job. He really sold us on the offense they play, that’ll fit Jasper’s style of play. We got to know him and we’re excited to be Wildcats.”

After making his commitment to UK in front of hundreds of family members, friends, media representatives and Woodford County students, Johnson also praised the time Pope put in to recruiting him over the summer.

In recent months, Pope and other UK coaches traveled to watch Johnson play in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League in Indiana and South Carolina, at the USA Basketball Men’s Under-18 National Team training camp in Colorado and at the FIBA Men’s Under-18 AmeriCup in Argentina.

Earlier this week, Pope made a stop in Atlanta to visit Johnson at Overtime Elite before the talented, left-handed guard made his college choice.

“He took a lot of time (to recruit me), and one thing you can’t give back is time. I know he had a short period of it, but I feel like he made me a priority with as much time as he was given,” Jasper said. “Coming to see me, calling me, texting me, not just him but the whole coaching staff. It really built that relationship really quick. I’m ready to be able to play for them.”

Jasper Johnson’s commitment gives UK basketball recruiting momentum

In the minutes after he pledged to become a Wildcat on Aug. 16, Moreno made his recruiting pitch to Johnson.

“You know where home is at, Jasper,” Moreno said to thunderous applause inside the Great Crossing High School gym.

After his own commitment Thursday, Johnson downplayed the importance that Moreno’s commitment to UK had on his own, while also acknowledging it was “definitely a plus” when assessing his college options.

“I was real happy for Malachi. I was watching his commitment not too long ago,” Jasper said. “Me and him growing up, both local kids, watching him develop and seeing him making his decision, I was really happy for him. I’m really excited to be able to play with him in the next couple years.”

Having both Moreno and Johnson in the fold puts Kentucky in an excellent spot when it comes to recruiting the rest of the 2025 class, which as a whole is taking its time when it comes to committing.

According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, only five players in the top 30 have committed. Furthermore, only three schools (Iowa State, Ole Miss and UK) have commitments from multiple players in the top 80 of the rankings.

Kentucky is distinguished among this group with commitments from the No. 10 overall player (Johnson) and the No. 27 overall prospect (Moreno). With Johnson’s commitment, the Wildcats are now one of only three schools (along with Arkansas and Syracuse) with a commitment from a five-star recruit, per the 247Sports Composite.

This gives UK unquestioned recruiting momentum entering the fall official visit period. Next week, the Wildcats are hosting five-star power forward Caleb Wilson, who has UK in his top-12 list of schools.

“I think it gives them a ton of momentum going into this,” David Sisk — a Rivals basketball analyst who covers Kentucky and North Carolina — told the Herald-Leader about UK’s recruiting outlook.

“Now, you could match it around. Not only, how do you match up with a big man, but you know, maybe your point guard, and you know, when you look at it, you’ve got momentum. And now you’re saying, ‘Hey, we should have guys wanting to play with them.’”

It should also help that Johnson is the highest-ranked recruit that Pope has ever gotten a commitment from.

Pope and his staff of assistant coaches have now shown the ability to effectively and quickly communicate their intended style of play to prospects, despite not yet having overseen so much as an exhibition contest in Lexington.

There are plenty of data points to cite from last season’s BYU team, though. The Cougars averaged 81.4 points per game and attempted 32 3-pointers per contest.

There are also insights to draw from UK’s summer practices. The Cats have pushed the ball past half court in just three seconds, operated on offense with a 14-second shot clock and have stated the goal of attempting 35 3-pointers per game this season.

But we still don’t really know what that will look like in action at Rupp Arena.

Regardless, the pitch from Pope and company — along with a lucrative name, image and likeness (NIL) package — was enough to secure a commitment from Johnson before the fall.

“They shoot a lot of 3s, they move the ball, play through the bigs some. So (Jasper) doesn’t have to be on the ball, (he has) time to get off of it and be able to make plays for others,” Dennis said, noting the pro-style offense that Jasper will be part of under Pope at UK.

“Every kid’s goal is to try to get to the next level. We think Coach Pope and his staff can help Jasper get there.”

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