Will Jasper Johnson be a one and done player for Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats?

Jasper Johnson is a Kentucky native five-star freshman who many anticipate being a star for Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats. The left-handed shooting combo guard lit up Overtime Elite over the last year, and now he is ready for college ball.

In 247Sports composite rankings, Johnson is ranked as the 21st best player in the 2025 class, but it is hard to imagine there are 20 players in this class better than the sharp shooting lefty.

The question of the day is whether or not Johnson is going to be a one-and-done player or will he stick around for multiple seasons in Lexington. Based on the current roster configuration for the Wildcats, this is a tough question to answer.

The Wildcats are deep at every position on the floor, and Johnson is going to more than likely come off the bench unless he can beat out Denzel Aberdeen, Kam Williams, and Collin Chandler for a starting spot. Johnson has the talent to do this, but there are just a lot of great players on this team, which will make it tough.

Kentucky fans have seen players who come off the bench be drafted, as just two years ago, Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham accomplished this feat.

Pope has been very high on Johnson for a while and believes he will be a superstar, but as of right now, I would project Johnson to be a multiple-year player at Kentucky.

The 6'4 guard is going to have a big season, but with the new era of NIL in college hoops, Johnson might be projected in a spot in the 2026 draft where one more year at Kentucky would be beneficial.