When Mark Pope took the job as head coach of the Kentucky basketball team, everyone knew he was elite when it came to X’s and O’s. It was also known that Coach Pope had one of the best offenses in college basketball. The problem with the hire was recruiting, as Coach Pope did not recruit much talent at BYU when it came to high school stars.

There were fears that this would be the case at Kentucky, but Coach Pope quickly put an end to that story. Coach Pope signed two elite recruits for the class of 2025, Malachi Moreno and most recently Jasper Johnson.

The 6’4″ sharpshooter Johnson just committed to Kentucky and for a while it seemed like he was going to transfer to Alabama. Well, Coach Pope continued to bet all over the court and Kentucky native Johnson decided he wanted to play college basketball for the Wildcats.

Now Coach Pope has signed two top-25 recruits for the 2025 class, including the No. 1 center in Moreno and one of the best shooters and five-star players in Johnson.

Coach Pope has his sights set on a few other elite recruits for the class of 2025, including Chris Cenac Jr. and Braylon Mullins, so there’s a chance this class could end up being a top five prospect.

If Coach Pope can recruit a top-five player in his first year as Kentucky’s head coach, those who told him he couldn’t recruit new players when he took office a few months ago will quickly fall silent.