Starting 5: Kentucky basketball, Louisville await Jasper Johnson's decision, more

Kentucky men's basketball coach Mark Pope is working to put together a talented 2025 recruiting class.

On Aug. 16, Great Crossing's Malachi Moreno became the Wildcats' first commit in the Class of 2025.

Moreno is the nation's No. 27 player in the 2025 class, ranking No. 2 among centers , according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Last season, Moreno averaged 16 points per game and finished in the top 10 in the state for rebounding (13.3 average per game).

Kentucky's second commit of its 2025 class might come this week. Kentucky native Jasper Johnson is scheduled to make his college decision Thursday, according to On3.com.

The 6-foot-4 guard lists Louisville and Kentucky among his finalists. North Carolina, Arkansas and Alabama also are among his top five.

Johnson starred at Woodford County before transferring to Link Academy in Missouri. He will play his final high school season in Atlanta with Overtime Elite.

According to the 247Sports Composite rankings , the five-star recruit is the country's No. 2 shooting guard and No. 10 player in the Class of 2025.

Around the city: Pro, amateur boxing matches coming to Louisville in September

The Kentucky Center for African American Heritage will host pro and amateur boxing matches Saturday, presented by Future Promotions.

Some participating fighters are from the All or Nothing Boxing Academy . All or Nothing is a mentored-based boxing gym in the West End of Louisville that provides a safe and structured environment for mentorship and supervised boxing lessons for adolescents.

Around the state: South Warren's McLaine Hudson delivers vs. international softball competition

South Warren's McLaine Hudson has been competing with the USA Softball Junior Women's National team.

On Friday, Hudson led Team USA to a 10-0 victory over Australia in the 2024 U-18 World Cup in Dallas. Hudson went 3 for 3 with two singles, a double and two RBIs.

Later that day, in a 9-1 win over Canada, she went 2 for 4.

The playoff round is scheduled to start Monday.

Last season, Hudson received the KSCA Class 3A Player of the Year award. She batted .620, with 22 home runs, 67 RBIs and 36 stolen bases.

High school recruiting: Owensboro Catholic point guard commits to Eastern Illinois

Owensboro Catholic senior basketball star Luke Beickman has committed to Eastern Illinois .

Beickman averaged 20.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for the Aces last season.

Mark your calendars

• Racing Louisville FC will visit Bay FC at 10 p.m. Saturday.
• Louisville City FC will host Loudoun United FC at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
• The Louisville Bats will host the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in a six-game series beginning at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday. They play again at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and again at 7:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The last game of the series is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Sept. 8.
• Louisville men's soccer will host Bellarmine at 7 p.m. Monday.
• Louisville women's soccer will host UT Martin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Dayton at 7 p.m. Sept. 8.
• Louisville field hockey will host Princeton at 4 p.m. Friday and Pennsylvania at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 8.
• Bellarmine men's soccer will visit Louisville at 7 p.m. Monday. The Knights will host UNC Asheville at 2 p.m. Saturday.
• Bellarmine women's soccer will host Indiana State at 7 p.m. Thursday.
• Bellarmine field hockey will visit Rider University at 4 p.m. Friday and visit Long Island University at noon Sept. 8.

Know of a story you think should be included in our weekly Starting 5 notebook? Send your idea to sports reporter Prince James Story at pstory@gannett.com for consideration. You can follow him on X at @PrinceJStory.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Starting 5: Kentucky basketball, Louisville await Jasper Johnson's decision, more