Kentucky HQ: Jasper Johnson get real at teaming up with mark Pope new recruit Tay Kinney” teaming up and stuff like that” Jasper Johnson opens up about the whole feelings….
On Tuesday, Overtime Elite hosted its annual draft as coaches and players ready to begin for the 2024-25 season. Kentucky natives Jasper Johnson and Tay Kinney made the decision to enroll in Overtime Elite this season in the hopes of keeping up their efforts and raising their own standards.
When it came time for the draft, Rod Wave Elite decided to draft Kinney, a 2026 point guard, with the first overall pick. Kinney is a 6-foot, 160-pound, 4-star prospect from Newport, Kentucky. He is rated nationally at No. 27 overall, according to 247 Sports Composite. Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats just recently offered Kinney last month when he visited Lexington.
Later in the draft, Kinney found out he would be teaming up with recent Kentucky commit Johnson. Johnson was drafted in the sixth round by RWE. The 5-star combo guard has already been recruiting players to come to Kentucky, such as 5-star power forward Caleb Wilson from the class of 2025.
Now that they’re teammates, Johnson could potentially recruit Kinney to Kentucky along with other players. Johnson is excited to play with Kinney and see how they can perform on the court as teammates.
I like the team. Me and Taylen, we were talking about that in the summertime when he had committed to Overtime, talking about teaming up and stuff like that,” Johnson said on the Sources Say podcast after he was drafted. “Finally seeing us on the same team is gonna be a good feeling.”
Since the visit for Kinney, Kentucky has made him a top priority for the class of 2026, hoping that they can have another guard stay at home and play for the Wildcats. With Johnson now teammates with Kinney, could he potentially be recruiting him.
Johnson states, “It is definitely in our best interest to work together.” Now that they are colleagues, it will be intriguing to watch how they get along and what improvements each athlete can make this year to improve even more the next year.
