KSR Today: Jasper Johnson, come on down?
What a Thursday it was, one that opened with promise and closed with a bang on the recruiting front. What could Friday hold in Lexington? If it’s anything close to the previous 24 to 48 hours, it’s going to be electric.
Let’s backtrack a bit to Wednesday, the start of the rumblings surrounding Jasper Johnson’s recruitment and potential movement favoring Kentucky. The five-star guard is preparing for Mamba Camp out in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday, followed by a college decision next week, his father told KSR. That chatter grew louder going into late Wednesday evening, reported in detail over on KSBoard — promo code for 50 percent off annual subscriptions is HOMEGROWN, by the way. Then it turned into just short of a scream as the day progressed on Thursday, the night closing out with more intel over on KSBoard (are you seeing a trend here?) with multiple high-profile insiders, namely Travis Branham of 247Sports, also submitting official predictions in favor of the Cats.
As we wake up Friday morning, Kentucky has put itself in closing position for the No. 11 overall prospect in 2025, potentially Mark Pope’s first five-star as the head coach in Lexington. And Johnson could be joining Malachi Moreno, the No. 1 center in the senior class and a local standout himself out of Georgetown.
Not too shabby three months ahead of the early signing period, huh?
Now, Pope and his staff still have to close and it won’t be official until he puts on a Kentucky hat next week before signing in November, but it’s a better spot to be in than on the outside looking in. Fair to say the Wildcats wouldn’t trade places with Alabama and North Carolina at this stage? Very fair.
We won’t have to wait too much longer to find out if UK can keep its two prized in-state stars home.
Champions Classic tip time announced
As Pope sets the tone as a recruiter, his chance to set the tone as a coach in Lexington comes in Atlanta at the Champions Classic, a head-to-head battle between Kentucky and Duke on college basketball’s biggest stage. We already knew that date — November 12, for those curious — and now we know exactly when the Cats and Blue Devils will be taking the floor.
As expected for the umpteenth season in a row, Kentucky drew the late tip time at 9 p.m. ET. Kansas vs. Michigan State will get the prestigious event rolling at 6:30 p.m. ET in State Farm Arena.
Looking to make the trip to Atlanta? Of course you are! Tickets for this year’s Champions Classic will go on sale in late September. You can sign up for the presale here.
Score predictions for the first weekend of HS football
At long last, Kentucky high school football is back and it’s beautiful. No more camp and scrimmages, it’s time for some real Friday Night Lights in the Bluegrass.
We’ve got the full schedule for you, obviously, but what if I told you we’ve got score predictions for each and every game, as well?
We’ll be using the Massey Ratings to plug every high school team across the state of Kentucky into a tool that will predict the final outcome of any given matchup. The system is based on historical trends and current-year stats, meaning they’ll continue to improve each week as more data is collected — so a little patience may be necessary early on.
What should fans expect going into week one?
Friday
| TIME (EST) | MATCHUP | MASSEY PREDICTION |
| 7:30 PM | No. 2 Trinity @ No. 15 Bryan Station | 38-14 (Trinity) |
| 7:00 PM | No. 5 Male @ Butler | 41-0 (Male) |
| 7:00 PM | No. 6 St. Xavier @ Floyd Central (IN) | 42-12 (St. Xavier) |
| 7:30 PM | Bardstown @ No. 8 Cooper | 38-17 (Cooper) |
| 8:00 PM | No. 17 Pikeville @ No. 9 Corbin (Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic) | 36- 14 (Corbin) |
| 7:00 PM | No. 10 Christian Academy-Louisville @ RV Owensboro | 34-21 (CAL) |
| 5:45 PM | Pulaski County vs. No. 11 Beechwood (Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic) | 40-21 (Beechwood) |
| 7:00 PM | No. 12 Owensboro Catholic @ Apollo | 42-14 (Owensboro Catholic) |
| 7:00 PM | No. 13 DuPont Manual @ No. 23 Central | 32-19 (DuPont Manual) |
| 7:00 PM | No. 15 Covington Catholic @ RV Ryle | 35-28 (Covington Catholic) |
| 7:30 PM | No. 16 Ballard vs. No. 22 South Warren (Campbellsville, KY) | 32-28 (Ballard) |
| 6:00 PM | No. 18 Franklin County vs. No. 24 Scott County (Great Crossing HS) | 32-27 (Scott County) |
| 7:00 PM | No. 19 Mayfield @ Graves County | 40-20 (Mayfield) |
| 7:30 PM | No. 21 Lexington Catholic @ RV Highlands | 36-23 (Highlands) |
| 7:30 PM | No. 25 Ashland Blazer @ Raceland | 35-21 (Ashland Blazer) |
| 7:30 PM | North Laurel @ RV Bell County | 31-25 (North Laurel) |
| 8:30 PM | Daviess County vs. RV Franklin-Simpson (Warren East HS) | 27-22 (Daviess County) |
| 7:30 PM | RV Johnson Central @ Madison Central | 32-21 (Johnson Central) |
| 7:30 PM | Holy Cross (Covington) @ Sayre | 35-14 (Sayre) |
| 7:00 PM | RV Union County @ RV Madisonville-North Hopkins | 33-26 (Union County) |
Saturday
| TIME (EST) | MATCHUP | MASSEY PREDICTION |
| 5:00 PM | No. 1 Boyle County vs. No. 20 Lexington Christian Academy (WKU) | 41-21 (Boyle County) |
| 8:00 PM | No. 3 Frederick Douglass vs. No. 4 Bowling Green (WKU) | 28-22 (Frederick Douglass) |
| 7:30 PM | Owen County @ RV Campbellsville | 44-6 (Campbellsville) |
Reed Sheppard FANtasy Experience rolls on at Rupp Arena
Back for year four of Fantasy Camp in Lexington with a third different rebrand, we’ve moved past the Players First Fantasy Experience and John Calipari Fantasy Camp and are now rolling with the Reed Sheppard FANtasy Experience. The former Kentucky star turned No. 3 overall draft pick made his anticipated return to Rupp Arena with a bunch of washed hoopers running around fighting off devastating injuries like their lives depend on it.
Thursday was just the tune-up before things get hectic on Friday with an early-morning game set (I’ll actually be taking the floor the second this post goes live), followed by back-to-back games in the early afternoon, championship at 2 p.m. ET.
Special guests include the entire Sheppard family, Tubby Smith, Oscar Tshiebwe, Goose Givens and Seth Greenberg — and we’ll have interviews coming with all of the above right here on KSR in the coming days (plus plenty of intel coming on KSBoard).
Until then, we’ll leave you with my One Shining Moment: drilling my first three on the new Rupp Arena floor — which is beautiful, by the way.
Fingers crossed for no injuries and plenty of buckets on this beautiful Friday, BBN. It’s a great day to have a great day. Go Cats.
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