Lexington’s own Jasper Johnson will not return to Kentucky for year two, the former top-25 prospect has announced. He will instead explore his options in the transfer portal, looking for a fresh start following an up-and-down freshman campaign as a Wildcat.

He averaged 4.9 points, 1.6 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 12.0 minutes per contest across 35 games.

Johnson came to Kentucky as Mark Pope‘s highest-ranked recruit of all time, finishing at No. 25 overall and No. 9 at his position. He grew up rooting for North Carolina and saw a fit at Alabama under Nate Oats, but opted to stay home and play for his hometown Wildcats, following in his father’s footsteps as a former All-SEC pass-rusher for the program from 1998-2001.

“Being from Lexington, Kentucky, I felt like it was an easy decision,” he said at his commitment ceremony. “I’m KY ‘Til I Die.”

“Jasper Johnson is just danger, danger, danger, danger, right? He just is a dangerous gravity guy,” Pope said of the local five-star after he signed. “… Jasper Johnson has a chance to be a really, really special player here in Kentucky, for sure.”

The vision did not become a reality for Johnson, who played just 20 combined minutes in three SEC Tournament games and eight combined in two NCAA Tournament games with 11 total shot attempts in that stretch for 10 points. Known as one of the most dynamic bucket-getters in high school basketball before arriving as a Wildcat, he’d finish with just five double-figure scoring performances — three coming before Christmas against low-major competition.

Pope himself admitted that Jaland Lowe’s shoulder injury — one that ultimately ended his season — derailed Johnson’s debut season as a Wildcat, forcing him into a backup point guard role rather than being the ‘dangerous scoring two guard that he was brought here to be.’

“Jasper Johnson had moments of his season that were super frustrating for him, for sure,” he said. “It really wasn’t fair to ask him to play the backup point guard role, but it was something we needed.”

The Lexington native took the inconsistent playing time and role in stride, never complaining about the situation publicly and taking ownership of his struggles, saying he has to improve going into year two.

“I’m very confident, I just know I got to get better,” he said following Kentucky’s loss to Iowa State in the Round of 32. “I know I got to get stronger in the offseason, tighten up my game and just go from there — keep growing as a basketball player.”

That improvement will have to come elsewhere, Johnson officially set to enter the transfer portal after a single season at Kentucky.