An aggressive Jasper Johnson is the best version of Jasper Johnson

Jasper Johnson has shown flashes of his talent throughout his freshman campaign, it just hasn’t always been consistent.

The 6-foot-5 Kentucky guard is averaging 6.2 points per outing this season, a number that has dipped to just 4.6 points since the start of SEC play. Essentially serving as the Wildcats’ backup point guard, you never quite know what you’re going to get out of him on a game-by-game basis. On some nights, he can look like the star recruit he was in high school. 12 points in 19 minutes on the road against Tennessee and 11 points in 17 minutes at home against Ole Miss — both UK wins — back that up. But in between those two January games was a 0-point outing in eight minutes at home against Texas, still a win for Kentucky.

That being said, Johnson has begun to settle into his role as of late, slowly earning more trust from the coaching staff. He’s played more than 10 minutes in each of Kentucky’s last four games, scoring four or more points in all of them. He shot a combined 4-11 from deep and 3-6 from two-point range during that span, turning the ball over just twice. But even then, Johnson leaves more to be desired (particularly on defense), primarily because the offensive talent is clearly there.

“He needs to be as aggressive as possible; he’s better when he’s aggressive,” Head coach Mark Pope said of Johnson on Thursday. “He’s going to see good results when he’s aggressive. When he gets into trouble, where I don’t feel good with him on the court, is when he’s kind of second-guessing and he’s a little bit on his heels. But the trick is he needs to be really aggressive, making reproducible plays.”

Pope admitted that Johnson didn’t have his best performance during Kentucky’s upset loss at home to Georgia on Tuesday night. Johnson shot 2-8 from the field (1-5 3PT) in his 15 minutes. But there were moments on film Pope saw that showcase Johnson’s abilities. It’s getting him to do what Pope mentioned — making reproducible plays — that is preventing him from truly breaking through offensively.

“One of his best plays (against Georgia) was in the first half,” Pope said. “And he actually was really forceful and aggressive, getting downhill, got downhill, shot-fake, shot-fake, found Trent (Noah) in the corner. Trent came off, he flowed back, he got another catch, and got downhill and got an easy five-foot floater, which is exactly his space.

“But he never gets there unless, one, he’s super aggressive, getting downhill to two feet the first time, and two, he’s disciplined enough to recognize where he is to make a play for a teammate so that the next part of the possession comes around to him.”

Below is a clip of the play Pope is talking about.

I wrote about unlocking Jasper Johnson prior to Tuesday game. Despite going 1-5 from 3 I still liked some of what he brought offensively, but it was admittedly over-shadowed by his (bad) defense.

This is a great play though.

Aggressive push. SEC logo. Two feet. (x2). Floater. pic.twitter.com/Da9NbX9ExZ

— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) February 18, 2026

It’s a learning process right now for Johnson, much like it is for everyone else. Replicating the above play on a regular basis is far easier said than done. Even in limited minutes as a freshman, Johnson has been quite efficient shooting the ball, but consistently making the right play is the next stage in his development.

“That’s hard to learn, that’s really hard to learn, but it’s advanced-level game, and so he’s got a chance,” Pope added. “He’s going to be a special player, but it’s just growing. It’s growing. And so he’s making progress. He did really positive things. Some of them didn’t work out well, but I’m proud of him.”

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