Jasper Johnson recruiting Tay Kinney to Kentucky: 'Tay is like a little brother to me.'

Jasper Johnson made his return to the Bluegrass on Sunday.

It was his first time back at Woodford County High School since committing to Kentucky in September, only the building looked a bit different this time around. Woodford County, which was established in 1963, built a brand-new, $75 million school on the opposite side of Versailles. The ribbon was cut after school resumed in January following an extended holiday break. Johnson, who was born and raised in central Kentucky, helped break in the school’s new state-of-the-art gym by dropping 31 points in front of his future head coach, Mark Pope.

Johnson started his high school career at Woodford County. But as his basketball stardom began to grow, so did his need for a tougher challenge. He transferred to Link Academy (MO) for his junior season and then to Atlanta’s Overtime Elite for his senior campaign. Woodford County was packed with over 2,000 fans to see Johnson’s return in what was a 71-70 win for his RWE squad over Huntington Prep (WV).

“Now that I’m committed to the University of Kentucky, lot more eyes on me,” Johnson said about the difference between now and when he last played at Woodford County. “I had to be a lot better and play at a high level. And I’m a senior. This is probably the last time I’ll play high school (basketball) here. Just coming out with a bang and getting a ‘W’ was big time.”

Now that he’s fully locked in with the Wildcats and all the paperwork is signed, Johnson is free to focus on nothing but basketball. The 6-foot-5 guard has been prioritizing conditioning and adding muscle to his frame since arriving at OTE. He says he’s taking his workouts more seriously than ever before.

But the extra free time has also allowed him to get in the ear of one of his talented teammates — who also just so happens to be from the state of Kentucky.

Mark Pope (and Malachi Moreno) in the building to watch RWE’s Jasper Johnson and Tay Kinney against Huntington Prep (WV). pic.twitter.com/FnhIOIGTSK

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) February 3, 2025

Tay Kinney is a year younger than Johnson as a member of the 2026 recruiting class, but he’s an equally talented backcourt prospect. Kinney, originally from Newport, KY, made the move to OTE ahead of his junior season where he was teamed up with Johnson on RWE. The two have formed arguably the most productive backcourt in OTE (and the most popular on social media).

“It’s been really fun. I didn’t really know much about Tay before the season,” Johnson said. “I think I talked to him at a camp before we played. We never knew we were going to be teammates. Definitely growing our chemistry. Tay is like a little brother to me. We’re definitely a good backcourt.”

Johnson and Kinney have RWE sitting on a 12-5 record, the second-best team in OTE’s standings out of eight squads. Johnson averages 20.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.7 steals per outing on shooting splits of 49/33/76.3. Kinney is right there with him: 20.8 points, 4.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game on splits of 56.8/35.1/73.5.

Johnson and Kinney together is turning into an iron sharpening iron situation. The two practice against each other regularly and watch film together. Johnson wants Kinney to make the best college decision for himself, but that doesn’t mean he’s not hyping up Kentucky. Pope wasn’t at the game to only watch Johnson.

“Sometimes I push it here and there, make a joke about it,” Johnson said about recruiting Kinney to UK. “He’s a high-level kid and has plenty of offers and opportunities to play anywhere. Wherever he goes, I know he’ll be a great player. Pushing him to Kentucky a little bit, yeah. But I know he’ll be great anywhere he goes.”

Kentucky made Kinney’s Top 15 list in late December. Georgia, Illinois, Purdue, Kansas, Tennessee, Auburn, Oregon, Kansas State, Alabama, Louisville, Cincinnati, Arkansas, Notre Dame, and Xavier were all included as well. Along with Pope, a coach from Xavier was at Woodford County to watch him in person. Kinney was also at the Kentucky-Arkansas game at Rupp Arena on Saturday alongside Johnson and fellow UK commit Malachi Moreno.

Pope has done a great job thus far of recruiting the in-state pipeline. Will that continue with Kinney?