Jasper Johnson's role will be very important for the Kentucky Wildcats

One player who is going to play a large role for Mark Pope's 2025-26 Kentucky basketball team is the freshman five-star Jasper Johnson. Early into his Kentucky career, he has drawn comparison to former Kentucky star Rob Dillingham, and this could be spot on.

Dillingham, much to the chagrin of Big Blue Nation, came off the bench for the Wildcats in John Calipari's final year in Lexington, and he was a microwave scorer. He could go on a 10-0 run just by himself. Johnson has that kind of scoring upside in him, and he handles the basketball well like Dillingham did at Kentucky.

Most project Johnson to come off the bench for this team, and when he does, Coach Pope will ask him to score the basketball. There is a world where Johnson is the leading bench scorer for this Kentucky team, and he is even a sleeper to be the SEC Sixth Man of the Year.

The defense is still something that Johnson is going to work on, but this is definitely what the coaching staff has focused on with the young guard.

In a press conference a few weeks ago, Johnson was asked about where on the floor he feels confident shooting the three-ball, and he jokingly responded anywhere past the half-court line. Johnson went on to talk about how Coach Pope wants him to be confident shooting the basketball and to know he always has the green light.