Kentucky's 2025-26 roster might feature in-state talent not seen since the Tubby Smith era

When Mark Pope became the coach of the University of Kentucky, keeping the best in-state talent home became one of his top priorities. If (and this is a monumentally large if) Jasper Johnson were to commit to the Wildcats, he would make the fourth scholarship player from Kentucky on the 2025-26 roster, assuming Malachi Moreno doesn’t change his mind and Trent Noah and Travis Perry stick around for their sophomore seasons. That would make four scholarship players from Kentucky on the team, not including whatever walk-ons might come along.

The last time Kentucky featured a roster with at least four in-state scholarship players was the 2013-14 season, when Derek Willis, Dominique Hawkins, Jon Hood, and Jarrod Polson fell one game short of the school’s ninth championship. Lexington native, Tod Lanter, was also on that team as a walk-on.

This was the only John Calipari-coached squad with four in-state scholarship players, save for the 2010-11 season when Twany Beckman transferred in midway through the season but sat out due to transfer rules.

That means, if Jasper were to commit, it would have been over a decade since a Kentucky roster was this Kentucky.

Loading up with in-state players used to be a Kentucky norm

Before the 2013-14 season, the last time Kentucky featured at least four scholarship players from the state was in the Tubby Smith era, where it was the norm. The 2004-05 and 2005-06 teams featured Rajon Rondo, Patrick Sparks, Brandon Stockton, and Josh Carrier all contributing to those teams’ successes. However, also on this team were walk-ons Preston LeMaster and Ravi Moss, the latter of which many folks likely forgot was a walk-on.

Two seasons prior, in 2002-03, also saw four Kentucky scholarship players on the team, with Antwain Barbour and Marquis Estill in addition to Stockton, and Carrier. This team actually rostered the most overall players from Kentucky with seven, as it also included three walk-ons, Moss, LeMaster, and Matt Heissenuttel. Overall the team only had 15 players meaning, nearly half of them hailed from the Commonwealth.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the Jasper Johnson recruitment, I envy you. It has been a pinball-esque rumor mill with unexpected bounces at every level. However, if he does choose to stay home in Lexington, it will mark only the 10th time Kentucky will have rostered at least four in-state scholarship players since Rick Pitino’s first season in 1989-90, and the first in over a decade.

And I’m here for it.

Kentucky teams with at least four in-state scholarship players since 1989-90 (excluding redshirts/transfer sit-outs)

Year	Year	Player	Player	Player	Player	Player	Player
2013-14	Derek Willis	Jon Hood	Jarrod Polson	Dominique Hawkins	Tod Lanter (walk-on)
2005-06	Rajon Rondo	Patrick Sparks	Jared Carter	Brandon Stockton	Ravi Moss (walk-on)	Preston LeMaster (walk-on)
2004-05	Rajon Rondo	Patrick Sparks	Josh Carrier	Brandon Stockton	Ravi Moss (walk-on)	Preston LeMaster (walk-on)
2002-03	Antwain Barbour	Marquis Estill	Josh Carrier	Brandon Stockton	Ravi Moss (walk-on)	Preston LeMaster (walk-on)	Matt Heissenbuttel (walk-on)
2001-02	Adam Chiles	Marquis Estill	Josh Carrier	JP Blevins	Cory Sears (walk-on)	Matt Heissenbuttel (walk-on)
1996-97	Derek Anderson	Scott Padgett	Anthony Epps	Cameron Mills
1991-92	John Pelphrey	Deron Feldhaus	Richie Farmer	Travis Ford	Chris Harrison
1990-91	John Pelphrey	Deron Feldhaus	Richie Farmer	Reggie Hanson	Todd Bearup	Jody Thompson (walk-on)
1989-90	John Pelphrey	Deron Feldhaus	Richie Farmer	Reggie Hanson	Michael Parks (walk-on)	Skip McGaw (walk-on)