Announcement: One of the biggest recruitments in the early Mark Pope era, 5-star prospect closing in on decision to join Kentucky

One of the biggest recruitments in the early Mark Pope era is nearing its end.

Johnson discussed Kentucky’s messaging with 247Sports’ national analyst Travis Branham.

“Mark Pop gives me the good message of being the hometown kid,” Johnson told reporters. “He is consistent with me. He explains what he wants me to do and how I can fit into his offense. He genuinely wants to coach me, and he wants to begin his 2025 recruiting class with me. I met the staff and got to witness them practice, which was great. He prefers to take three-pointers and expects me to contribute to scoring.

Johnson is originally from Woodford County (Ky.), but he transferred to national powerhouse program Link Academy (Mo.) last year before announcing last week that he would be joining Overtime Elite (Ga.) for his senior season.

Mark Pope has made Johnson a top priority since taking over three months ago. He demonstrated this when he went to the FIBA U18 AmeriCup in Argentina earlier this month to watch Johnson play.

Johnson is ranked No. 10 in the 247Sports class of 2025 rankings and No. 2 among combo guards. The 6-foot-5 prospect is a prolific scorer who can play both on and off the ball. His athleticism enables him to play above the rim on either end of the court while also excelling in transition and attacking the hoop.

Pope set to land a coveted five-star Time will tell but these are the types of recruitments that he needs to be invovled in — and eventually win.