Yahoo Sports UK men’s basketball recruiting: Mark Pope and Kentucky make list cuts for top prospects
It has been a busy summer on the recruiting trail for Mark Pope and his Kentucky basketball program.
Once the business of assembling the 2024-25 UK basketball roster — which features 12 scholarship players and two walk-ons — was completed, Pope and his new-look coaching staff shifted their focus to pursuing potential future Wildcats.
This has included a bevy of recruiting trips, both domestic and international, as well as several key developments when it comes to UK’s recruitment of top prospects in the 2025 and 2026 classes.
With the calendar now turned to August, here’s an update on the biggest recruiting storylines for the Kentucky men’s basketball program.
On Friday, AJ Dybantsa — the top-ranked recruit in the 2025 class — released a list of the seven schools he’s still considering for college. Kentucky wasn’t included.
UK basketball currently doesn’t have any commitments in the 2025 or 2026 recruiting classes.
Central Kentucky native Jasper Johnson is down to five schools
The recruit that’s top-of-mind for most Kentucky basketball fans is Jasper Johnson, the class of 2025 shooting guard who is a Central Kentucky native and holds direct family ties to UK.
Johnson — whose father, Dennis, is the former Harrodsburg, University of Kentucky and NFL football player and the current head football coach and athletic director at Woodford County — is now officially down to five schools in his recruitment.
In late July, 247Sports reported Johnson was down to Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisville and North Carolina, with a college decision set to come before the end of August.
A longtime Kentucky basketball target for both former coach John Calipari and Pope, Johnson is a priority recruit for the Wildcats. Ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star recruit and the No. 10 overall player in the 2025 class, Johnson is a left-handed guard with deep shooting range and an emerging ability to play both on the ball and off the ball.
The 6-foot-4, 175-pound Johnson recently announced he would be spending his final high school season playing at the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite program. Previously, Johnson played prep basketball at Woodford County (where he led the Yellow Jackets to the Sweet 16 state tournament semifinals in 2023) and at Link Academy in Missouri.
Alabama, Kentucky and North Carolina have emerged as the three leading schools in Johnson’s recruitment. Last Thursday, Johnson took another unofficial visit to UK, one that included a sit-down with Pope and time spent watching the Wildcats practice.
Pope and the UK coaching staff have spent significant time recruiting Johnson to Lexington. This pursuit has included watching Johnson play in Shelbyville at the KABC Titans-Rockets Summer Shootout, in Indiana and South Carolina in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL), in Colorado during USA Basketball tryouts and in Argentina, where Johnson won a gold medal with the United States at the FIBA Men’s Under-18 AmeriCup.
Kentucky continues to recruit in-state star Malachi Moreno
While Johnson began his high school basketball career in the Commonwealth before departing, class of 2025 center Malachi Moreno has spent his whole prep career in Kentucky.
The standout Great Crossing High School big man is the likely favorite for the 2025 Kentucky Mr. Basketball award, and he is fresh off a dominant junior season in which he led the Warhawks to a 36-2 overall record and a trip to the Sweet 16 state semifinals.
He’s also a clear target for Pope and company as Kentucky tries to land the top in-state recruit for a third consecutive year, following Reed Sheppard (2023) and Travis Perry (2024).
Moreno — a 6-foot-11, 230-pound center who is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 26 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class — is coming off an impressive summer playing with Indiana Elite on the Adidas 3SSB circuit.
According to Synergy Sports, Indiana Elite ranked in the top seven in both offensive efficiency and defensive stops during the 2024 Adidas 3SSB season, and Moreno had the most dunks (33) of any player in the 17-and-under division.
Moreno released a list of his top eight schools in late June. Those colleges are Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Those schools also feature prominently in Moreno’s planned visit schedule for the fall.
The five official visits that Moreno has scheduled are: Ohio State (Sept. 7), North Carolina (Sept. 14), Indiana (Sept. 20), Arkansas (Oct. 5) and UK (Oct. 12).
Like with Johnson, Kentucky recently secured another unofficial visit from Moreno, who was on campus last week.
Also like with Johnson, Kentucky has invested a lot in Moreno’s recruitment.
Pope and his coaching staff have watched Moreno in recent months in Colorado at USA Basketball tryouts, in Florida at the NBPA Top 100 Camp, in Shelbyville at the KABC Titans-Rockets Summer Shootout and in South Carolina at the Adidas 3SSB championships.
“He’s come into this new job with his head high, ready to work and he makes sure all his players understand the assignment,” Moreno told the Herald-Leader about Pope earlier this summer. “He’s ready to work and he’s ready to get this next banner.”
Darryn Peterson includes Kentucky in list of top schools
Another prospect whose recruitment has spanned both the Calipari and Pope eras of UK basketball is Darryn Peterson, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound combo guard originally from Ohio.
Peterson was the first class of 2025 recruit to be offered a UK scholarship when Calipari extended one his way in August 2022. While plenty has happened since then, Peterson remains interested in the Wildcats.
On the final day of July, Peterson revealed a list of the top eight schools in his recruitment. Kentucky made the cut, alongside Arizona State, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Ohio State, Southern California and Washington.
Ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star prospect and the No. 3 overall recruit in the 2025 class, Peterson is planning to visit all of his finalists before making a fall commitment.
Peterson has been in Lexington before: The first official visit of his recruitment took place in March, when he visited UK for the Wildcats’ final home game of the 2023-24 season, a Senior Night win against Vanderbilt that proved to be both the final Rupp Arena game and the final victory of the Calipari era.
UK also previously hosted Peterson for an unofficial visit last October when he came to Lexington for Big Blue Madness, the annual kickoff event for the Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball programs that is used as a key recruiting event.
In 2023, Peterson became the first high school athlete to sign a name, image and likeness deal with Adidas. Notably, four of the programs in Peterson’s top eight (Arizona State, Kansas, Louisville and Washington) are Adidas schools.
Peterson plays travel basketball for Phenom United on the Adidas 3SSB circuit. According to Synergy Sports, Peterson was one of the most efficient offensive players on the circuit this spring and summer: He averaged 1.04 points per possession and 24 points per contest.
Synergy also reported Peterson was responsible for 31.8 points per game — either by scoring them or by assisting teammates who scored — during the 2024 Adidas 3SSB season. That mark led the league.
Peterson — whose father, Darryl, played at the University of Akron and is one of the top scorers in that school’s history — also has plenty of connections with other recruits who are being pursued by UK. Peterson has played on USA Basketball youth national teams that have included a trio of class of 2026 prospects — Caleb Holt, Brandon McCoy and Tyran Stokes — who also hold Kentucky scholarship offers.
Peterson just completed a recruiting visit to Southern California and is expected to visit Ohio State later this month.
Other top college basketball recruits include UK in list cuts
Several other top college basketball recruits have recently included Kentucky in their list cuts.
This group includes:
▪ Niko Bundalo: The 6-foot-11, 215-pound power forward from Ohio has Kentucky in his top-eight list, along with Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Texas, UConn and Xavier.
Ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 23 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, Bundalo is a talented lefty who will be waiting until his final official visit to come see the Wildcats. Bundalo is planning to commit before November, according to 247Sports.
▪ Braylon Mullins: The 6-foot-5, 180-pound shooting guard from Indiana has UK in his top-10 list, along with Alabama, Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, Purdue, Tennessee, and two-time defending national champion UConn.
Ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 73 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, Mullins will be taking an official visit to Kentucky on Oct. 25, according to On3. Mullins already took an unofficial visit to Kentucky earlier this summer, which is when Pope extended a scholarship offer his way.
Mullins, who just wrapped up an official visit to UConn, is teammates with Moreno on the Indiana Elite squad that tore up the Adidas 3SSB circuit this spring and summer. According to Synergy Sports, Mullins was the fifth-most efficient player on offense during the Adidas 3SSB season.
▪ Eric Reibe: The 7-foot, 235-pound center from Maryland has Kentucky in his top-11 list. The other schools that Reibe, who was born in Germany, is still considering are Creighton, Harvard, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oregon, Stanford, UConn, and West Virginia.
Reibe has already taken official visits to both Creighton and Harvard.
Pope and UK extended a scholarship offer to Reibe in late June.
Reibe is one of several Kentucky recruits who will take part in the Under Armour Next Elite 24 youth basketball showcase in August in New York City, along with Acaden Lewis, Malachi Moreno and Taylen Kinney, a four-star point guard from Newport High School.
▪ Caleb Wilson: The 6-foot-9, 205-pound power forward from Georgia has included Kentucky in his top-12 list of schools, along with Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Central Florida, Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oregon, South California and Tennessee.
Wilson’s recruitment to Kentucky began under Calipari. This included a trip to last year’s Big Blue Madness.
Kentucky had fallen behind in Wilson’s recruitment this spring and summer, but it seems like Pope and company have made up some important ground.
According to On3, Wilson will be taking an official visit to UK in September, during a weekend that coincides with UK football’s home game against Georgia.
Previously, Wilson has taken official visits to Auburn and North Carolina. He’s fresh off a successful grassroots season in which Wilson teamed up with fellow star 2025 recruits Cameron and Cayden Boozer to win the 17-and-under Peach Jam championship with Nightrydas Elite on the Nike EYBL circuit.
▪ Tounde Yessoufou: The 6-foot-5, 211-pound power forward from California has UK in his top-10 list, along with Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Kansas, Southern California, Tennessee, UCLA, UConn and Washington.
Ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 20 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, Yessoufou emerged as an early recruiting target for Pope at Kentucky and he finally picked up a scholarship offer from the Wildcats in July.
Yessoufou is planning to visit Kentucky this fall.
“I just like the way that they play. I feel like they play, kind of, my style,” Yessoufou previously told the Herald-Leader about UK. “… I’ve been talking to Mark Pope and he’s been telling me how he likes my energy … The way that he’s been talking to me and stuff, he’s got so much energy and I can see myself in the future playing for that program.”
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