When Mark Pope took the job as Kentucky’s head basketball coach everyone knew he was elite when it came to X’s and O’s. It was also well known that Coach Pope has one of the best offenses in college basketball. The concern with the hire was recruiting, as Coach Pope at BYU wasn’t recruiting a ton of talent when it came to stars out of high school.

There were concerns that this would be the case at Kentucky, but Coach Pope has quickly ended that narrative. Coach Pope has landed two elite recruits in the 2025 class, Malachi Moreno and, most recently, Jasper Johnson.

The 6’4 sharpshooting guard Johnson just committed to Kentucky, and for a while, it seemed like he was Alabama bound. Well, Coach Pope kept putting on the full-court press, and the Kentucky native Johnson decided he wanted to play his college hoops for the Wildcats.

Now Coach Pope has landed two top 25 recruits in the 2025 class, including the #1 center in Moreno and, one of the best shooters, and a five-star in Johnson.

Coach Pope is still in it for some other elite recruits in the 2025 class, like Chris Cenac Jr. and Braylon Mullins, so there is a chance this will be a top five class when everything is said and done.

If Coach Pope is able to land a top five class in his first class as Kentucky’s head coach, that will quickly silence those who said he couldn’t recruit when he took the job just a few short months ago.