It didn’t take long for Mark Pope to heat up on the recruiting trail. Since his hiring in April, the new Kentucky head coach has already landed three highly-ranked high school commits (not to mention the 12 fresh faces he had to bring in for the current 2024-25 season). More could be on the way soon too if everything continues to play out as expected.
As it stands, Kentucky has the third-best 2025 recruiting class (behind Duke and UConn, respectively) according to On3, thanks to the trio of Jasper Johnson, Malachi Moreno, and Acaden Lewis. With Johnson and Moreno both born and raised in the Bluegrass, landing Lewis last Saturday was viewed as Pope’s first major recruiting victory, having to beat out Duke and UConn for the lefty point guard.
The big fish still waiting to be hooked is Caleb Wilson, a 6-foot-9 power forward who is seen as one of the best high school prospects in the country. Kentucky appears to be in good shape with Wilson as his recruitment slowly begins to wind down, even more so after he canceled an Arkansas visit that was originally planned for this past weekend. There’s also the up-and-coming wing Samis Calderon, who will officially visit UK this coming weekend.
All this is to say that Pope is off to a terrific start as a recruiter at Kentucky. On Monday, On3’s Jamie Shaw updated his player rankings for the class of 2025, which included the aforementioned UK commits/targets. Where does he have them ranked in what is the eighth update for this cycle? Only a couple of updates remain before this group heads off to college for the 2025-26 season.
COMMITS
- Jasper Johnson: 6-foot-4 guard | Overtime Elite (GA) – No. 29 overall (4-star)
- Malachi Moreno: 7-foot center | Great Crossing (KY) – No. 32 overall (4-star)
- Acaden Lewis: 6-foot-3 guard | Sidwell Friends (MD) – No. 50 overall (4-star)
TARGETS
- Caleb Wilson: 6-foot-9 forward | Holy Innocents (GA) – No. 6 overall (5-star)
- Samis Calderon: 6-foot-8 forward | Overtime Elite – No. 63 overall (4-star)
Kentucky is also still considered to be in the running for the likes of SF Nate Ament (No. 3), PF Chris Cenac (No. 4), CG Brayden Burries (No. 12), and Mikel Brown Jr. (No. 18). However, Wilson and Calderon appear to be the two uncommitted prospects near the top of Kentucky’s Big Board as of right now.
What about the On3 Industry Ranking?
If we look at the On3 Industry Rankings, which take into account rankings from On3, 247Sports, Rivals, and ESPN, we see a slightly different (more optimistic) perception of the same class of 2025 Kentucky commits and targets. Either way, Pope has some quality talent coming to Lexington going into year two. The future is bright.
COMMITS
- Jasper Johnson: 6-foot-4 guard | Overtime Elite (GA) – No. 14 overall (5-star)
- Malachi Moreno: 7-foot center | Great Crossing (KY) – No. 29 overall (4-star)
- Acaden Lewis: 6-foot-3 guard | Sidwell Friends (MD) – No. 30 overall (4-star)
TARGETS
- Caleb Wilson: 6-foot-9 forward | Holy Innocents (GA) – No. 5 overall (5-star)
- Samis Calderon: 6-foot-8 forward | Overtime Elite – No. 187 overall (3-star)
