Woodford County PG Jasper Johnson keeping his recruitment open, but Kentucky is lurking

Playing on tired legs, Jasper Johnson still found a way to impress the college coaches watching him from the crowd.

Johnson is a 6-foot-3 sophomore point guard from Woodford County High School in Versailles, KY. The son of former Kentucky football player Dennis Johnson, Jasper’s athletic ability didn’t fall far from the family tree. Doubling as a star quarterback for the Yellow Jackets, Johnson is already considered a nationally-ranked prospect on the hardwood. The On3 Consensus has him ranked No. 26 overall and the best player from the Commonwealth in the class of 2025.

As you might expect, the Kentucky Wildcats are keeping plenty of tabs on the budding local superstar.

Johnson led his Woodford County squad into their third game in three days on Sunday in Louisville. The Yellow Jackets smacked Anderson County on Friday 59-26, rallied in the second half on Saturday night to beat Male (with Johnson powering the comeback and finishing with 41 points), then knocked off Buchtel (OH) in the Kentucky Play By Play Classic at Freedom Hall.

In back-to-back-to-back outings, Johnson shined in all of them. Most importantly, he looked good to finish off his weekend of hoops. Considering the roughly 16-hour break between games, Johnson came out a bit sluggish, but turned it up in the second half, much like he did the night before. He finished with 20 points in a 68-50 win.

Kentucky associate head coach Orlando Antigua, who is no stranger to Johnson’s game, liked what he saw as he watched from the front row.

“I’ve been talking to them since football season,” Johnson said on Sunday of his communication with Kentucky. “(Antigua) came to a couple of practices and workouts to watch me and my teammates workout. Just our relationship, building it over time so we can get closer.

“I like that it’s a winning program. Winning traits at the end of the day. I like to play basketball, but what I like to do more is win.”

A scholarship offer from the Wildcats hasn’t come in just yet, but that might just be a formality at this point. Johnson and the Kentucky staff are equally interested in each other. UK certainly isn’t the only school after his services, though.

The likes of Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisville, Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State, and Clemson are programs Johnson mentioned by name as ones he’s been hearing from as of late. He already holds Power 5 offers from Xavier, Cincinnati, Ohio State, and Alabama. That being said, there is no indication of an early frontrunner.

“I like to keep my recruitment open,” Johnson said.

But if you’re looking for a reason to give Kentucky an upper hand other than proximity, Johnson pointed to a trio of programs he viewed as his “dream schools” growing up: Kentucky, North Carolina, and LSU. He added that he spent plenty of time as a child watching former Wildcats such as De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Anthony Davis, and John Wall. Johnson, who is left-handed with a lot of length for a point guard, said he’s been compared many times already to Fox.