Three Kentucky signees included in top 25 of latest ESPN rankings

The Kentucky basketball program is in good hands next season, Mark Pope’s debut recruiting class in Lexington featuring not one, not two, but three top-25 signees.

That’s according to ESPN’s updated 2025 player rankings with future Wildcats Jasper Johnson, Malachi Moreno and Acaden Lewis all included in the top 25. Johnson leads the way at No. 17 overall, followed by Moreno at No. 23 and Lewis at No. 25, respectively.

Kentucky, Duke and Houston are the only three programs with at least three top-25 pledges in the ESPN100.

Take a look at the top 25:

Moreno was named a McDonald’s All-American on Monday while Johnson and Lewis were both snubbed. Johnson was, however, named to the 2025 Nike Hoop Summit alongside Moreno, that event scheduled for April 12 in Portland.

The trio of Wildcats signed with Kentucky during the early period back in November. Mark Pope broke down each of their games shortly after signing day:

Jasper Johnson

“Jasper Johnson is just danger, danger, danger, danger, right? He just is a dangerous gravity guy. He just demands that if you’re not going to pay attention to him with more than one body, anywhere he is on the court probably, he’s gonna hurt you, and he can really, really, really score the ball. And he’s got a kindness about him that’s really special. And he knows Kentucky, right? All one thing that’s great about all three of these guys is they have emotional reaction when they pull on a t-shirt that has Kentucky across the chest, right? They have emotional response. Jasper Johnson has a chance to be a really, really special player here in Kentucky, for sure.”

Malachi Moreno

“Malachi Moreno is probably the best center in all of high school basketball, and he fits us also. Every time I see him, he’s grown a little bit bigger than me, and he likes to rub it in. He puts his arm around me like I’m a little boy. I can’t decide if I hate that or if I love it. Mixed feelings on that. You talk about a great human being, what he does with his spare time, how he’s reached out to people in his community and people with special needs and people that don’t have any needs at all. He’s a special, special human being. He’s massive, and he’s an elite level passer, and he’s got — you meet him and you think, Oh, this guy is just the nicest, biggest dude I’ve ever met, but when he gets in the fray, in the mix, there’s a little bit of violence and determination that comes out of him that was really fun for me to see. And so we got three, three terrific players so far in this class. We’re really excited.”

Acaden Lewis

“Acaden Lewis is a floor general supreme. He’s a locker room leader, just watching him roll through the summer and hearing — you know, we’re recruiting a lot of guys, and the guys talk about each other. And I don’t know if there’s a guy that’s more universally like than Acaden Lewis. And how great to have a point guard that’s that way, right? That’s what you want. He is a playmaking point guard. Every play he can make. His vision is elite. He’s wildly skilled. He can get wherever he wants to go on the floor. He does it in a way that’s reproducible. He’s got a toughness to him and kind of a balance and even-keeled nature about himself that’s really special. And he earned it. Like in the spring, he was maybe in a space where he was walking around trying toshop himself a little bit. And then by mid-summer, he was trying to tell people ‘Stop bothering me, man. I can’t talk to every single school in the country,’ and he earned it, like he earned it every single day. And I think he’s a beautiful kid.”

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Quite the group coming to Lexington next season.