Kentucky did not lead in NIL for Jasper Johnson: "It was definitely not the deciding factor for us"

Paul Miller Ford and Morgan & Morgan banners sat behind Jasper Johnson as he yanked a Kentucky jersey out of a Donatos Pizza box at Woodford County High School to announce his highly anticipated college commitment. In today’s age of modern recruiting with name, image and likeness, the ceremony checked all of the boxes, all the way down to the five-star guard’s Court XIV letterman jacket — his agency, represented by Nate Conley.

On the surface, it aligned with the twists and turns of Johnson’s recruitment, certainly in the final months, weeks and days leading up to the decision. The perceived drama was made for television, creating a life of its own in what was assumed to be a bidding war for his services with rumors of crazy cash offers set to steer the Lexington native to one of his finalists. One day it was Alabama, another it was North Carolina before Kentucky swooped in late to win the NIL war, and ultimately, his commitment.

Again, this was what social media and message board posts led you to believe. The reality? UK didn’t even have the best offer on the table when Johnson decided to stay home and suit up for the Wildcats.

Pokes a hole in that bidding war theory, doesn’t it? That’s how his father and former Kentucky football star, Dennis Johnson, sees it, at least.

“Well, I’ll say this: Kentucky wasn’t the highest NIL of the three schools we were considering,” Johnson told KSR on this week’s Sources Say Podcast. “I won’t go into all that, but I’ll tell people this. My wife and myself don’t have to be a slave to Jasper because he’s a good basketball player.”

Johnson is the head football coach and athletic director at Woodford County High School — beyond his stint in the NFL after becoming an All-SEC defensive end at Kentucky. His wife and Jasper’s mom, Nyoka, has a comfortable job she’s happy with. The Johnsons are doing just fine, well enough to buy the five-star guard his sneakers and Raising Cane’s from time to time.

Point being, they weren’t forced to drive up their son’s NIL demands for their own benefit. Their only focus was making sure Jasper did what was best for his basketball future, not who was paying the most.

“We work every day. I love my job, I love coaching kids. My wife works, right? We’re going to do our thing regardless,” Johnson said. “Jasper’s money will be Jasper’s money. We wanted him to go to the best decision, the best basketball decision that would make him a better student-athlete. That’s what it ultimately came down to.”

Talks of Jasper’s supposed ‘bidding war’ got back to his grandmother and Dennis’ mother, Rosetta Johnson, the matriarch of the family hoping for reassurance their priorities were in line. That struck a nerve with Dennis, knowing how he grew up and how hard he worked to pass those values down to his son.

They did their best to tune out the noise and keep the circle tight when nailing down the decision, never letting the money overshadow what was best for their son.

“(My mom) was like, ‘All this stuff I’m hearing about NIL, I just don’t understand.’ I said, ‘Mom, everybody’s got a podcast and all that type of stuff,'” Dennis told KSR. “We try to be solid people. My father and mother didn’t raise us like that. We didn’t raise Jasper like that, you know what I’m saying? Like I said, we work every day. We love our jobs. Jasper’s money is Jasper’s money. Ultimately, if you do what you’re supposed to do, the money will come when you get a chance to go to the NBA.”

That’s what led the blue-chip recruit to Kentucky, just like his dad on the football field. He followed his heart, not the cash.

And for that, his father is proud.

“This is a great start to life, but ultimately, the money will come if you do what you’re supposed to do in college and go to the NBA, whether that be one, year, two years or three years down the road,” he said. “I wanted him to make the best basketball decision where he felt the most comfortable. That was the University of Kentucky.”

Because, again, if it were only about the money, he wouldn’t be staying home to suit up in blue and white. He’d be in Tuscaloosa or Chapel Hill. NIL conversations were had, just like with every high-profile recruitment, but they didn’t decide where Jasper went to school.

“All these reports about this and that — listen, NIL is a thing,” Dennis said. “We talked about it with every coach, but it was definitely not the deciding factor for us or we would’ve been at another school.”

As for the commitment ceremony with multiple presenting sponsors in a gym packed with Jasper’s closest friends and family, live streamed for the entire recruiting world to see? Yeah, that’s something they were pretty proud of. It was a homecoming celebration at the highest level.

The five-star guard and his agent wanted to pull off something massive and they feel they accomplished that together.

“I definitely liked the execution. Me and Nate, my agent with Court XIV, had a plan to make my commitment as big as possible and change the game of commitments,” Jasper told KSR. “Him pitching a couple ideas, me pitching a couple ideas, and actually executing them down to the Donatos Pizza box, it was pretty fun to do. I’m glad we did that and I feel it went pretty good.”

Finding that balance of building a local brand when committing to a blue blood program while also keeping basketball at the forefront was key. Through the rumors and rumblings, the Johnsons managed to make it work.

And the best part? Their neighbors won’t have to force them out of Lexington for letting their son go to a rival.

“We were going to support him regardless, whether it was Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama, Indiana, Louisville — whatever, it doesn’t matter. We were going to support our son,” Dennis said. “But he ultimately picked UK, and we’re excited about it. …

“I guess I won’t have to sell my house now [laughs].”