The Kentucky Wildcats made a major splash in the recruiting world when they landed 5-star guard Jasper Johnson.
At one time, that would have come as a big surprise, as Alabama and North Carolina were major players who appeared to be ahead of the Cats going down the stretch.
Ultimately, Kentucky won out without even being the top NIL giver for Johnson.
His dad, Dennis Johnson, told Kentucky Sports Radio that, of the three programs that were finalists for his son, Kentucky didn’t offer him the most NIL money. For the Cats, that should be seen as a huge win as Johnson clearly has a desire to stay within the state.
“Well, I’ll say this: Kentucky wasn’t the highest NIL of the three schools we were considering. I won’t go into all that, but I’ll tell people this. My wife and myself don’t have to be a slave to Jasper because he’s a good basketball player,” Johnson said via KSR on this week’s Sources Say Podcast.
Johnson plays for Overtime Elite and is currently ranked by 247 Sports as the 14th-best player in the class of 2025 and the third-best shooting guard.
He has offers from almost every top program, but in the end, he chose to stay at home and will play for Big Blue Nation next season.
The Cats have done well at retaining in-state talent, and that’s only going to be increasingly important for Pope and his coaching staff.
