The 2025 UNC basketball recruiting class remains empty following Overtime Elite (Ga.) five-star guard Jasper Johnson’s announcement on Thursday afternoon.
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Johnson, a 6-foot-4, 175-pound silky southpaw who ranks No. 10 overall on the 247Sports 2025 Composite, committed to recruiting juggernaut Kentucky. The Lexington, Ky., native chose the Wildcats over the Tar Heels and three other finalists: Alabama, Louisville, and Arkansas.
5⭐️ Jasper Johnson is STAYING HOME! 🚨🤩
The 6’4” guard chose the Kentucky Wildcats over Arkansas, UNC, Alabama, and Louisville. @BruhJasperJ @slam_university pic.twitter.com/MqJ3vY1l4Z
— SLAM HS Hoops (@SLAM_HS) September 5, 2024
He had been at or near the top of the UNC basketball wishlist since receiving an offer out of Chapel Hill last September. In addition to checking out the Tar Heels on an official visit in early February, coinciding with their home win over archrival Duke in the Dean E. Smith Center, Jasper Johnson returned for an unofficial visit the last weekend of June.
Although fourth-year head coach Hubert Davis and his Tar Heels have picked up several quality additions from the transfer portal this year, they haven’t prevailed in a recruiting race since Ian Jackson, now gearing up for his freshman campaign, capped off the program’s 2024 class via his pledge of allegiance in January 2023.
There is still plenty of time, though, for Davis & Co. to piece together a formidable haul in the 2025 arena.
Only four of the top 50 prospects in the cycle have announced their decisions. However, now two of those prizes belong to the Wildcats, as Great Crossing High School (Ky.) four-star center Malachi Moreno committed to first-year Kentucky head coach Mark Pope over UNC and others three weeks ago.
