'I know how good he is.' Jasper Johnson excited to team up with fellow Kentuckian Malachi Moreno

Mark Pope currently holds the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the country after landing Jasper Johnson on Thursday. Along with Malachi Moreno, Kentucky now has a pair of Top 25 high school seniors committed for the 2025-26 season.

The best part? Johnson and Moreno were both born and raised in the Bluegrass State. They’ll join two more Kentucky-born players on the roster next season in Travis Perry and Trent Noah (barring a surprise jump to the NBA or transfer portal move). All four are following in the homegrown footsteps of Reed Sheppard, who sparked the recent Kentucky-to-Kentucky pipeline. That’s a lot of talent coming out of this state in such a short amount of time, but all of them want/wanted the pressure of suiting up for the blue and white.

“Being from the city, a lot of us are kids from Kentucky,” Johnson said after his commitment. “It means a lot. It’s a lot of pride on the line with the name on the front of the jersey. But I’m really excited about my decision and I’m excited to get started and represent Kentucky.”

For Johnson and Moreno — much like Perry and Noah — being able to team up together in college is a long time coming. The two are friends and battled each other constantly on the hardwood over the years. Johnson has been playing out of state since his junior season began, but they’re still in contact — even more so now that they’re future Wildcats.

“That’s definitely a plus, for sure,” Johnson said when asked if Moreno’s commitment helped influence him to UK. “I know how good he is and how much of a force he is down low. Adding him to the team and to our roster for next year is a good thing.

“I wouldn’t say it gave me a push. I was definitely happy for him. I’ve seen him grow up since we was young little kids and develop. Seeing him commit, I was definitely happy for him, but I’m just happy we started off the roster. We’re gonna get started next year.”

Johnson and Moreno should be able to play off each other well at Kentucky. Johnson is a high-level scoring guard at 6-foot-4 who can be on or off the ball. Moreno is a seven-foot center with impressive passing skills and rim-protecting instincts. The pick-and-roll between those two will be tough to defend. They’re good fits with what Pope wants to do on offense.

With those two on board, they’ll now wear their recruiting hats in search of the next 2025 addition. Johnson already has a few prospects in mind.

“It’s a couple of different players,” he said. “I ain’t gonna mention no names, but if they’re watching, they know who they are.”

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