The early signing period is underway. These recruits will join Kentucky men’s basketball.

The early signing period for class of 2025 college basketball recruits is underway.

For one week — from Wednesday through Nov. 20 — basketball recruits are able to sign with colleges during the November early signing period.

All three of Kentucky men’s basketball’s class of 2025 commits — guards Jasper Johnson and Acaden Lewis and center Malachi Moreno — are expected to sign and submit their national letters of intent to play for Mark Pope and the Wildcats during the early signing period.

Here’s a refresher on each player, how they came to commit to Kentucky and what early expectations are for them at the college level.

Players are listed in chronological order of when they committed to UK. The regular signing period for class of 2025 college basketball recruits will run from April 16 until May 21.

Malachi Moreno was Mark Pope’s first 2025 UK commit

Moreno — a 6-foot-11 center — was the first prospect in the 2025 recruiting class to commit to Pope and Kentucky basketball.

A star player at Georgetown’s Great Crossing High School, Moreno committed to UK on Aug. 16 during a ceremony inside the Great Crossing gym.

Moreno is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a four-star prospect and as the No. 28 player in the 2025 class. Moreno is also the favorite to earn Kentucky Mr. Basketball honors as the state’s top senior.

“I’ve grown up a Kentucky fan, so it was obviously going to be hard to say no (to playing at UK),” Moreno told the Herald-Leader in October while at a USA Basketball Junior National Team minicamp in Colorado. “Being able to become a Kentucky Wildcat, it’s like a dream come true.”

Last season as a junior at Great Crossing, Moreno averaged 16 points, 13.3 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game for the Warhawks. Moreno was a major reason why Great Crossing lost only two games and reached the semifinals of the Sweet 16 state tournament.

Moreno — who shot 65.7% from the field as a junior — is more of a traditional big man. He boasts a strong offensive presence in the post and valuable defensive rim protection skills.

The expectation is that Moreno will showcase an expanded offensive game as a senior with the Warhawks.

“Just being a great talker, a team leader and just always staying in the gym, being a gym rat,” Moreno said about what the UK coaching staff wants him to focus on this season. “Just fall in love with the game even more.”

Moreno’s older brother, Michael, was a standout local high school player at Scott County before going on to spend five seasons at Eastern Kentucky. Michael owns the career 3-pointers made record at EKU.

On Wednesday afternoon, Kentucky confirmed receipt of Moreno’s national letter of intent.

“I believe that Malachi Moreno is the best center in the country in this class,” Pope said in a UK news release. “He is an elite-level passer with incredible tracking vision. He has a ferocity around the rim in terms of ball protection and he is willing to engage physically. He is going to grow into an elite-level shooter. And, more important than all of those incredible things, is that he gets a little teary-eyed when he walks into Rupp Arena because he knows what this place is.”

Jasper Johnson is Pope’s highest-ranked commitment in 2025 class

Johnson — a 6-foot-4 guard — is another name that should be familiar to followers of Kentucky high school hoops. The son of former Harrodsburg, UK and NFL football player Dennis Johnson, Jasper began his prep career at Woodford County, where he led the Yellow Jackets to the semifinals of the Sweet 16 state tournament in 2023.

Johnson has since played his junior season at Link Academy (Missouri) and is now playing his senior season at the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite (OTE) program.

Johnson, who is a consensus five-star prospect, committed to Kentucky on Sept. 5 in a ceremony at the Woodford County gym in Versailles. Johnson is ranked as the No. 16 recruit in the 2025 class.

“Coach Pope always tells me I’m a dynamic scorer. So, really just him trying to use me as many ways as possible to create for myself or to create for others,” Johnson told the Herald-Leader in September following OTE’s annual fall combine. “He knows I’m a dynamic offensive player, and just working on my defense. … Get stronger, work on my decision-making and making different reads.”

Johnson is the top-ranked recruit, so far, in UK’s 2025 class, and early projections have him as a first-round pick in the 2026 NBA draft.

Pope had to fight off strong efforts from both Alabama and North Carolina to secure Johnson’s commitment, and a lucrative NIL package from UK was also a factor in Johnson’s decision.

Kentucky’s pursuit of both Johnson and Moreno can be traced back to John Calipari’s time coaching the Wildcats. But, Pope still did major work to ensure both prospects with Kentucky connections stayed home for school.

“That is the perfect case scenario for Mark Pope,” David Sisk — a basketball analyst for Rivals who covers both Kentucky and North Carolina — told the Herald-Leader when Johnson picked UK.

With the additions of Johnson and Moreno, Kentucky basketball’s roster for next season projects to have four scholarship players from the commonwealth. Sophomore guard Travis Perry (Lyon County) and forward Trent Noah (Harlan County) would be the others.

On Wednesday afternoon, Johnson signed his national letter of intent to play at Kentucky.

Acaden Lewis is Kentucky basketball’s most recent commit

Lewis — a 6-foot-2 point guard — is Kentucky basketball’s most recent commitment. Lewis picked the Wildcats as his college choice on Nov. 2 from a final list of schools that also included Duke and UConn.

Lewis’ commitment was significant on a number of fronts for Pope and Kentucky. Lewis was identified by Pope as a recruiting target during the spring and summer thanks to breakout performances on the Nike grassroots circuit and at the NBPA Top 100 Camp, which is considered a top evaluation setting.

Lewis, who is from Washington D.C., is Pope’s first class of 2025 commitment without any pre-existing ties to Kentucky.

“Kentucky, you’re kind of like betting on Pope,” Lewis said this month in a SportsCenter NEXT video that preceded his college commitment. “I’ll be there his second year. He’ll be losing his whole starting five and his sixth and seventh man. You’re kind of just betting on him being a great coach, him being basketball smart.”

Lewis is a four-star prospect who is ranked as the No. 30 overall recruit in the 2025 class. He has past playing experience with Johnson, as both players took part in a camp run by NBA star Damian Lillard in August in Arizona.

Lewis could also be the key piece that results in Kentucky landing a true blockbuster recruit in the 2025 class. Lewis has made no secret of his desire to team up in college with Caleb Wilson, a five-star power forward from Atlanta who took an official visit to UK in September.

Lewis and Wilson have exchanged cryptic social media posts, hinting at going to the same college program. Kentucky is considered to be in a good position with Wilson, a 6-foot-9 prospect who is ranked as the No. 5 overall recruit in the 2025 class.

“The next (recruiting) step is going to be just getting the dude, and I think Caleb Wilson is probably a guy that you would think of there,” Sisk, the Rivals analyst, told the Herald-Leader. “Talking about (potentially) getting a five-star, a top 10-type of player. Somebody that’s a one-and-done. Because the next move (Pope) has to make now from here, even after getting Acaden, I think you’ve got to get one-and-done type players.”

Kentucky women’s basketball lands first commitment in 2025 class

On Wednesday afternoon, the UK women’s basketball program landed its first commitment in the 2025 recruiting class.

New Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks received a pledge from Kaelyn Carroll, a 6-foot-2 wing who is the top-ranked recruit in the state of Massachusetts.

Carroll is ranked as the No. 15 national prospect in the class of 2025.

The Wildcats are off to a perfect 3-0 start under Brooks, and will host No. 18 Louisville (2-1) on Saturday night at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.

Mark Pope adds top-40 backcourt prospect to Kentucky’s 2025 basketball recruiting class

There was a lot of noise in Jasper Johnson’s recruitment. The UK commit explains the truth.

Malachi Moreno began Kentucky’s recruiting run. What’s next for the Great Crossing star?

Top 15 national prospect commits to UK women’s basketball. ‘She’s just a deadly shooter.’

Top 2026 shooting guard Caleb Holt talks UK basketball. ‘They view me as their guy.’

‘It was good vibes.’ What is a Kentucky basketball recruiting visit like under Mark Pope?

‘I’m different than other players.’ Mark Pope gave a big compliment to this UK recruit.

‘He can do it all.’ Meet the first high school sophomore to get a Kentucky basketball offer.

After taking a visit to Kentucky, elite 2025 center Chris Cenac recaps Mark Pope’s pitch