Four-star guard Acaden Lewis has officially signed with Kentucky after committing earlier this month.
And five-star guard Jasper Johnson has also signed after committing in September.
“Acaden Lewis is so much of what you want to find in a great point guard,” Kentucky head coach Mark Pope said. “He has incredible vision. He’s got a beautiful stroke. He can get to the rim and finish, can make every pass, and already understands the probing nature of a point guard. He has this calm, hungry, unemotional demeanor that you look forward to in a leader. I would say he has some Anthony Epps-qualities of being a calm, tough, banner hanging leader that gets us really excited.”
Kentucky previously announced the signing of big man Malachi Moreno.
Lewis is a consensus four-star prospect who chose Kentucky over other finalists, Duke and UConn. The 6-foot-2 lefthander will join the Wildcats for the 2025-26 season.
A high school star at Sidwell Friends School, Lewis was chosen as the 2023-24 Gatorade District of Columbia Boys Basketball Player of the Year after a season in which he averaged 14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.5 steals while helping his team to a Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference title and the DCSAA Class AA tournament championship.
On the Nike grassroots circuit with Team Durant this spring and summer, Lewis averaged 16.7 points, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. He also stood out at this summer’s NBPA Top 100 camp, where he averaged more than 15 points and nearly four assists per outing.
“Acaden is one of the most popular players in this entire class and everyone wants to play with him,” Pope said. “I absolutely love the fact that he has earned this, from being a lightly recruited prospect to a guy who everyone was chasing this summer.”
“Kentucky felt like a community,” Lewis said upon his commitment. “Coach Pope came to my barbershop and everything, his staff did a lot for me. It felt like a home. It felt like somewhere I should be. The system is great, and it just felt right.”
JASPER JOHNSON
The 6-foot-4 combo Johnson began his high school career at Woodford County High School in Versailles, Kentucky, where he helped lead the Yellowjackets to the semifinals of the KHSAA Sweet 16 in 2023, while also playing quarterback on the football team.
After spending his junior year at Link Academy in Missouri, Johnson headed to Atlanta where he is currently a part of the Overtime Elite program that produced Rob Dillingham, a top 10 pick in the 2024 NBA draft and current member Minnesota Timberwolves. In the early stages of the OTE 2024-25 season, Johnson is averaging 20.7 points, 6.3 assists and 7.0 rebounds per game.
Johnson is set to become a third-generation Wildcat when he arrives at the University next fall. Jasper’s father, Dennis, and his uncle, Derrick, both played football at Kentucky while his grandfather, Alvis, worked eight years in athletics administration at UK. Jasper’s father played in the NFL for both the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers and is now the current football coach and athletic director at Woodford County.
“Jasper Johnson is the most dangerous scorer in all of high school basketball,” Pope said. “He has a panache and a flair that is going to be loved by all of BBN. He has a fearless mindset on the court and is also a massive gravity player, where the whole defense has to shift out to him at 27 feet. His family has a great legacy here at Kentucky and he may just write the most profound chapter of them all.”
Johnson played for Team Thad on the EYBL AAU circuit and was a standout at Peach Jam this past summer, averaging 19.8 points, 3.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals across five games. The lefty also won a gold medal with USA Basketball at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup in Argentina this past June, shooting a team-best 42.3 percent (11-26) from 3-point range.
Johnson chose Kentucky over a list of other finalists that included Alabama, Arkansas, Louisville and North Carolina.
“Coach Pope made a big commitment to spend a lot of time with me and speak to me,” Johnson said at the time of his commitment. “I feel like the trust was there between me and the coaching staff and being from Lexington, I feel like this was an easy decision. I’m K-Y ‘til I die.”
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