Acaden Lewis and Jasper Johnson to form all-lefty backcourt at Kentucky: "We're not super conventional"

It didn’t take long for Acaden Lewis to know he wanted to play with Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson at the next level. The top-30 recruit teamed up with both at various summer events and dominated, winning championships with the local duo out of Kentucky.

It started with Moreno at NBPA Top 100 Camp back in June, Lewis joining him on the floor in Orlando where they won every single game together as teammates. The 7-foot center out of Georgetown was easy to play with — not hard to do when you average 16.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game as one of the top frontcourt performers in attendance — and they got along well outside of basketball. That became a trend at several other events from there.

“Starting with (Malachi), I played with him first at NBPA Top 100 Camp. He was the big and we didn’t lose a game,” Lewis told KSR. “We kind of got cool there, and I saw him at numerous other events and stuff like that, Elite 24 was one. He’s just a cool dude. I like hanging out with Mal, we just kind of chop it up every once in a while. Still checks in now. Those camps are just a cool place to meet people, see how they act. He was in my room just hanging out a lot.

“And he can hoop. Mal is tough — good hands, super long, athletic. I think Mal is a good piece.”

7’1 C Malachi Moreno @malachimoreno24 is a smooth blend of size, skill and mobility. He runs the floor well, gets straight up to contest and block shots, along with being a HIGHLY efficient finisher, with great timing on cuts and slips to the rim. Finished the NBPA top 100… pic.twitter.com/WK2oFl6ptg

— A a s i m S u l l i v a n📈 (@AasimSullivan) July 2, 2024

Then there is Johnson, a lefty guard just like Lewis. The latter didn’t know much about the former beyond their head-to-head battles on the Nike EYBL circuit — appointment viewing at the time, both capable of dropping 30 on any given night. Then they teamed up together in August at the Formula Zero Elite Camp in Phoenix and saw a fit, winning yet another event title with a kid from Kentucky.

“Jasper, I only played with him once, but playing against him, I have a lot of respect for him,” Lewis added. “I think he gave us like 30 (points), to be honest, when we played (Team) Thad. I think we both had a really good game, I think I had almost 30, too. It was like a respect thing, and then we got to kind of know each other.

“We played at Formula Zero, Damian Lillard’s camp, and honestly, it just worked.”

Once Johnson committed to Kentucky, Lewis expected Pope and his staff to move on. Then they brought up the idea of potentially playing together and everything changed, the coaches making it clear it didn’t have to be one or the other. They’d take both.

That opened the door for the Cats with the four-star guard out of DC.

“I didn’t really know what to expect. I didn’t know early if Kentucky got Jasper they would stop going after me and stuff like that,” he told KSR. “But once we kind of played together, we both told Pope, ‘Yeah, I’d be interested in playing with the other guy.’ And it just kind of worked.

“We actually end up winning that championship. So at least with Kentucky, I’m two for two on championships as of right now.”

5⭐️ Acaden Lewis & 5⭐️ Jasper Johnson on the same squad at Dame Lillard’s @frmlazro camp is just UNFAIR 😳‼️

Both have visited UNC and Kentucky in the recent months…

Could you see ESPN’s #1 player in DC and #1 player in GA linking up at a blue blood? 👀

(🎥 @c_rod1313… pic.twitter.com/vaBbPNKqqc

— GREENLIGHT MEDIA (@atlgreenlight) August 18, 2024

Part of the intrigue? Their status as southpaw scorers. Johnson has always been considered one of the top bucket-getters in his class and Lewis joined the conversation this summer as one of the top stock-risers in the country. How do you guard both as lefties?

That’s for other teams to figure out moving forward, the newest Wildcat pledge calling the backcourt duo ‘unconventional’ if not ‘weird.’ And that’s ‘super cool’ for Lewis, knowing you just don’t see that very often at any level.

“I think that’s really cool. And we’re both kind of like — I would say weird, a little bit. We move a little different, we’re not super conventional,” he said. “I think he’s a little more unconventional than I am, to be honest. I think he has some really weird wiggle to him, which is super cool. Two lefties isn’t seen much, especially at the one and two. Like, that’s not normal.

“I think it’s just gonna be a really weird dynamic to stop, I guess. It’s gonna be hard to scout both of us.”

Did Mark Pope find the program’s next Goose Givens and James Lee? That’s certainly the hope.