Jasper Johnson says idea behind 'KY Til I Die' T-shirt "just came from the heart"

Mark Pope has not been quiet with his expectations for incoming freshman Jasper Johnson. The Kentucky men’s basketball head coach expects big things from Johnson, one of the top-ranked high school guards from the 2025 recruiting cycle.

“I think Jasper Johnson is a superstar. I expect him to come in here and be great,” Pope said during his offseason press conference last month. “And for every freshman, there is a learning curve in terms of the physicality and intensity of the game, the relentless physicality and intensity of the game. But Jasper Johnson has got a really, really incredible skill set. He’s one of those guys.”

From what we’ve seen out of Pope since he took the job, that kind of definitive statement isn’t something we normally hear from him. But it’s a testament to Johnson’s skills and just how good the Kentucky coaching staff believes he can be. Both sides believe there is greatness awaiting the Lexington native.

“Seeing that my head coach is that confident in my game and skillset, it means a lot,” Johnson said earlier this week on an episode of BBN Tonight with Maggie Davis and Keith Farmer.

Johnson committed to the Wildcats back in the fall, but he made Pope and Co. sweat it out. There were an endless number of reasons why Kentucky ended up being the choice, but being recruited by a first-year head coach can understandably elicit caution. Johnson even admitted to the BBN Tonight crew that he missed the first couple of phone calls from Pope last spring because he didn’t recognize the number.

But in the end, the crafty 6-foot-4 scoring machine chose the ‘Cats over a group of big-name schools that included Alabama, Arkansas, Louisville, and North Carolina. He did so in memorable fashion, too, announcing his commitment at his alma mater, Woodford County High School, while stating he’s “KY ‘Til I Die”, which was made into a shirt that quickly became a must-have purchase for the Big Blue Nation.

Johnson says the inspiration behind that now-famous message came organically.

“It’s kinda crazy. I think it was like a week before I committed, I was in Atlanta, Coach Pope and his staff came down to talk to me for about 20 minutes,” Johnson told BBN Tonight when talking about the idea behind the shirt. “He was like, ‘You know Jasper, when you commit, you need to say something that really gets to the BBN fans and the community.’ I was thinking what I was gonna say but I didn’t really come up with anything. But when I wanted to commit, it just came from the heart, just naturally came out.“

Johnson is expected to arrive on campus later in the week as Kentucky begins summer workouts this month. A handful of his future teammates have already made it to Lexington as the team slowly trickles into their new homes at the Wildcat Coal Lodge. Johnson was asked on BBN Tonight to explain what he expects to see out of this group ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.

“I see excitement,” Johnson said. “We have guys that can do everything, from one through five, at all positions we can pass, shoot, score, defend. But I’m just really excited to see how we can put this thing together and get the season started.”

To hear everything Johnson had to say during his interview, dive into the video below. He discusses his hopes of being mentored by Otega Oweh, all the blue he expects to see at the KFC! Yum Center during next season’s Kentucky-Louisville matchup, his dreams of making it to the NBA one day, and much more.