“Like jaw-dropping great.”
Head coach Mark Pope has assembled a new roster as the Kentucky Wildcats gear up for the 2025-26 season.
Pope has brought in two local legends in Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno, to help bolster the roster.
The Wildcats head coach recently helped coach the 2025 USA Basketball Men’s U19 National Team in Colorado Springs, where Johnson and Moreno were also playing. Moreno has since left the event due to a minor injury, while Pope’s time there is done as well.
But that didn’t stop Pope from heaping praise on the freshman center along with Johnson.
“It was awesome because it was the first time I’ve been allowed to coach them,” Pope said during an interview with KSR. “That was the best part. It’s like a sneak peek into what’s going to be. Both those guys, man, what a show they put on. They were both incredible. I mean, like jaw-dropping great. So the chance to coach them and the chance to be in some live play, some competition against other players and other great players, I loved that part.”
This was clearly a great opportunity not only to represent the USA with the Kentucky brand but also to get a closer look at his own guys.
Based on the reactions from summer workouts and Pope’s comments here, it is pretty clear that both Johnson and Moreno can make a huge impact on their team early on.
Kentucky is, and will always be, the greatest program in the country, and that’s often been the case thanks to Bluegrass natives like Moreno and Johnson helping to maintain that standard.