If it seems like Jasper Johnson has been part of the Kentucky basketball conversation for years, it’s because he has been.
A dynamic guard from a locally famous sports family, Johnson burst onto the scene as a high school underclassman. He was on John Calipari’s recruiting radar from his earliest days at Woodford County. As a sophomore, he led the Yellow Jackets to the Sweet Sixteen semifinals.
And after that, he left Kentucky behind.
First, Johnson opted for Missouri-based Link Academy, a basketball-focused prep school that plays a national schedule. For his senior year, the Kentucky native moved to Atlanta-based Overtime Elite, which has become a go-to spot for future pros.
During that two-year stay outside the commonwealth, it looked at times like Johnson might never return home for good. North Carolina was viewed as a favorite in his recruitment for a little while. Alabama was seen as the team to beat at other moments along the way.
Calipari kept recruiting him while at Kentucky and then Arkansas. Mark Pope made him a priority as soon as he landed in Lexington.
And then, last September, the 6-foot-4 guard announced that he’d be coming home after all, revealing his decision to play for UK and proclaiming that — despite finishing his high school career elsewhere — he was “KY ’til I die,” a slogan that delighted Pope to no end and quickly showed up on blue and white T-shirts across Central Kentucky.
And now he’s here, prepping for his freshman season at UK — perhaps his only season at UK, if things go according to plan — and looking forward to what he can bring to Pope’s second Wildcats team.
What will that be exactly?
247Sports national analyst Travis Branham, who closely followed Johnson’s high school career and was sitting next to him when he announced his commitment to UK last fall, was quick to offer up one word to describe what the 19-year-old can contribute this coming season.
“Scoring,” Branham said, letting that one word hang in the air for a little while. “That is what Jasper absolutely loves to do. That’s how he is wired. He can obviously provide size and length in the backcourt, but scoring is what he does. And so he is going to be — whether it’s off the bench or as a starter — he’s going to be a microwave guy. He’s one of those guys that can get hot and put up eight or 10 points pretty quickly.”
That’s the plan.
“I think Jasper Johnson is a superstar. I expect him to come in here and be great,” Pope said this offseason. “And 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. There are very few players who just go get a shot whenever they want it. He can do it.”
Those words were spoken a couple of weeks before Johnson arrived on campus for summer workouts. The sentiment hasn’t changed in the time since those practices began.
Johnson has spent that time learning Pope’s free-flowing offense, getting a feel for how he and the rest of the coaching staff want Kentucky’s players to operate. They’re telling him to shoot the ball whenever he can. That’s music to the teenager’s ears.
While talking about the ins and outs of UK’s offensive attack last week, Johnson was asked to pinpoint his “range” on the court. He grinned.
“I feel like I’m in range anywhere in the gym,” he said. “And Coach Pope feels like that, as well. He’s always telling me the first option is look at the rim and shoot, if I can. … I feel like I can shoot from anywhere.”
