Recruiting elite high school talent is '100 percent' a priority for Mark Pope

For the last 15 years, Kentucky fans have been treated to some of the world’s top basketball talent coming through Lexington. From multi-time NBA All-Stars to National Player of the Year winners to endless All-SEC selections, former head coach John Calipari recruited the best of the best.

And for a long time, success typically came with it. But over the final five years of that 15-year run, the results didn’t compare. Calipari was still bringing in five-star high schoolers, but not like he was in the early years of tenure. Eventually, especially in the new transfer portal era, the days of winning off one-and-done players were going to end. We might have already passed that point.

But make no mistake, recruiting from the high school level is still significant for building a successful college program. When the brand is “Kentucky”, top talent will always consider the Wildcats, even without Calipari.

New head coach Mark Pope — still in the midst of filling out his 2024-25 roster — is already on the prowl, reaching out to a handful of 2025 recruits over the last couple of weeks in hopes of continuing to haul in some big fish. While the priority right now is to work in the transfer portal, Pope isn’t going to be shy when it comes to attacking the high school ranks.

“100 percent. This is the University of Kentucky, right?” Pope said Monday morning on KSR when asked if he’ll recruit elite high school talent. “That is a massively important component of building — I mean, come on, Kentucky is Kentucky — of being, not building, but being what Kentucky is, is having the most talented players in the world, the most talented high school players in the world come be a part of this.

“That will always be a very important staple. It was important for Joe B. Hall, it was important for Rick Pitino, it was important for every coach. It was really important for (Calipari). Cal actually redefined the process of being able to do that and his incredible contributions to the University of Kentucky.”

Among Pope’s top priorities from the high school level (that we know of so far) is Lexington native Jasper Johnson, a 6-foot-5 guard who plays for Link Academy (MO) and is considered the No. 11 overall class of 2025 prospect by the On3 Industry Ranking. Johnson spoke with KSR over the weekend in Memphis at the first Nike EYBL session of the summer and confirmed what Pope said on radio.

“(Pope) said he might not recruit as many freshmen as Cal did but he wants me to be one of those freshmen that come in and (makes an) impact from day one,” Johnson said.

Johnson isn’t the only high schooler to hear from Pope and his staff, either. Another in-state prospect, four-star center Malachi Moreno, is being re-recruited to Kentucky. Five-star guard Darryn Peterson, five-star wing Will Riley, and top-ranked wing AJ Dybantsa have also been in contact with Pope and Co. as of late.

Don’t expect many five- or six-man recruiting classes under Pope moving forward, but do expect a handful of the top dudes to join the fold year after year. Between that and the portal, there will be plenty of ways to round out a roster in the offseason.

“That’s a huge part of what we’ll do and the portal is also — we’re also in a brand new era guys,” Pope added. “The portal and NIL rules are different this year than they were last year. It’s a brand new era so we’re really fortunate to be at the University of Kentucky. I’ll never get tired of saying that, gentlemen.”

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