Shocking: New Kentucky coach Mark Pope took dead aim at one of basketball’s most….
Kentucky coach Mark Pope’s jarring thoughts on Xs & O’s
New Kentucky coach Mark Pope took dead aim at one of basketball’s most sacred, and long-standing beliefs – Xs and O’s of coaching. Part 6 of an exclusive one-on-one interview with The Cats’ Pause from the SEC Spring Meetings in Florida’s.
During a one-on-one interview with The Cats’ Pause at the SEC Spring Meetings in Florida, Pope took aim at one of basketball’s most sacred, and long-standing beliefs.
“The truth is, coaching has really never had anything to do with Xs and O’s,” Pope said, generations of clipboards and markers crashing to the hardwood. “Coaching is about people. It’s not about paper.”
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Kentucky hosting Jasper Johnson on important unofficial visit
The first most important recruiting moment of the Mark Pope era has arrived.
The first most important recruiting moment of the Mark Pope era at Kentucky has arrived.
Branson (Mo.) Link Academy 5-star guard Jasper Johnson has taken countless visits to Lexington over the years, including an official visit back in February.
But none have come with Pope as head coach.
That will change on Tuesday, when according to 247Sports national basketball recruiting analyst Travis Branham, Johnson will take an unofficial visit to Kentucky, where he will meet with Pope and the rest of the new Kentucky staff.
Since being officially tabbed to replace John Calipari on April 12, Johnson has been one of Pope’s top priorities.
First, Pope was courtside to watch Johnson play for Team Thad at the Nike EYBL stop in Indianapolis over Memorial Day weekend, then in Colorado Springs for the United States U18 trials, and then in Buenos Aires as Johnson helped lead Team USA to the gold medal at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup in Argentina.
There’s also some familiarity on the new UK staff. Associate head coach Alvin Brooks III was previously recruiting Johnson as an assistant at Baylor.
And there’s plenty of reasons why the Wildcats want to keep Johnson home.
First, Johnson is ranked as the No. 10 overall prospect in the 2025 class according to the industry average 247Sports Composite. Second, he grew up in Versailles and attended Woodford County High School before transferring to Link Academy in Missouri. Third, he is the son of former UK football great Dennis Johnson, and the grandson of the late Alvis Johnson, who served as an administrator at the university for eight years.
In January, Johnson named a top 10 consisting of Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Missouri, North Carolina, USC, and West Virginia. He’s already taken official visits to West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Missouri, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Auburn.
At the FIBA U18 AmeriCup, Johnson averaged 10.0 points and 2.7 assists while shooting 42.3% from beyond the arc. He scored in double figures in three of six games as the Americans finished a perfect 6-0 in the event, winning its games by an average of 41.5 points per game en route to capturing the gold medal.
Playing for Team Thad, Johnson is averaging 15.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists while making 16 three-pointers in 15 games in the Nike EYBL this travel season.
247Sports Scouting Report: Jasper Johnson is a southpaw scoring guard who has spurts of extreme tough shot-making when he gets hot. He has a super soft natural touch and is very crafty around the lane with a deep bag of runners, floaters, and other types of finishes, in addition to the jumpers and step-backs he’s capable of making from the perimeter. Physically, Johnson is lean, but he’s very long with a recorded +5 wingspan. In addition to building up his body, he also needs to learn to impact the game more when the ball isn’t in his hands, or more specifically, when he’s not on one of his scoring sprees. – Adam Finkelstein
