How Vince Marrow helped Kentucky land Jasper Johnson: "He's family to me."

Mark Pope landed his first five-star recruit as the head coach at Kentucky last week, Jasper Johnson deciding to stay home and suit up for the Wildcats over Alabama and North Carolina. It gave UK a second top-25 commitment to start its 2025 class, the Lexington native joining Georgetown’s own Malachi Moreno to get things rolling.

What led Johnson to that decision after a back-and-forth recruitment, especially coming down the home stretch?

“I would say coming down to it, it was definitely a tough decision for the past couple months. I was down to three to five schools, but I was really just praying about it and talking to my family, seeing the pros and cons of each and every school,” he said on WLAP’s Sunday Morning Sports Talk this weekend. “I feel like Kentucky was the best opportunity for me to be able to grow as a student-athlete. … I was very patient and calm about my decision because it’s a blessing to be able to even have this opportunity, so I wasn’t trying to let it stress me out or anything.

“I just feel like Kentucky was the right move for me because I felt that’s where my heart was.”

Johnson will be the first to admit Pope entered the race at a disadvantage, hired at Kentucky in April with other schools and coaching staffs having a year-plus head start. To his credit, though, he made the most of that time in a hurry to close the gap when it came time for a decision.

Pope prioritizing him early and often helped the first-year coach ultimately land his big fish.

“They had a short, short span with a couple of months to recruit me, but I feel like Coach Pope was very consistent,” Johnson said. “He was using his time to come and see me or FaceTime me, all of that. I always like talking to Coach Pope. It’s great to build a relationship and I’m excited to keep building our relationship.”

How about a major wildcard in Kentucky’s pursuit of the five-star guard? Trade out the court for the gridiron — just like his dad did when he suited up for the Wildcats back in the day. Dennis Johnson, a former All-SEC pass-rusher in Lexington, is a longtime friend of Vince Marrow. The UK Associate Head Coach has been around to watch Jasper’s development from local up-and-comer to surefire national five-star, his nephew, John McCrear, a former teammate of his at Woodford County.

Marrow never pushed Johnson to stay home, but he certainly made his presence felt. That made a difference.

“Vince — you know, he’s family to me,” Johnson said. “He made a couple of jokes and stuff here and there early on about coming to Kentucky, but he wasn’t pressuring me or anything. He always told me to go where I feel like I can develop the most and get to the next level. He never really pressured me or anything, but Vince is family, so he just told me to keep basketball the main focus and the people around me will take care of the rest of it.”

Marrow’s message? Follow your heart. That pitch ultimately worked in the Wildcats’ favor.

“He wanted me to just go somewhere where my heart was and Kentucky ended up being that place,” he said.