COLORADO, Colorado Springs Starting on June 14, Mark Pope, head coach of Kentucky basketball, and incoming freshman Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson will participate in the 2025 USA Basketball U19 National Team training camp at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Centre. While the freshmen are fighting for slots on the 12-player roster of Team USA’s squad that will compete at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland, Pope will be coaching on the court.
Pope will be playing for Team USA for the first time, and Moreno will be attending his second training camp. Johnson participated in the 2024 FIBA U19 AmeriCup and won a gold medal. Earlier this spring, Johnson and Moreno were both on the USA Men’s Nike Hoop Summit squad, which won 124-114 in overtime against the World Select squad.
As a senior in the Overtime Elite League, Johnson averaged 20.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game for Real Wild Energy. The 6-foot-4 combination guard started his high school career at Versailles, Kentucky’s Woodford County High School, where he played quarterback for the football team and helped guide the Yellowjackets to the 2023 KHSAA Sweet 16 semifinals.
In the summer of 2024, Johnson was a standout at Peach Jam, where he averaged 19.8 points, 3.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in five games while playing for Team Thad on the EYBL AAU circuit. The lefty shot a team-best 42.3 percent (11-26) from 3-point range to help USA Basketball win a gold medal at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup in Argentina.
After leading his school, Great Crossings, to a state championship as a senior, Moreno earned Mr. Kentucky Basketball honours and is regarded as one of the top 25 prospects in the 2025 class. During his stellar season, Moreno averaged 21.5 points, 14.9 rebounds, 3.6 blocks, and 3.5 assists per game. Moreno had 24 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocks in the championship game. He participated in the Nike Hoop Summit and was chosen as a McDonald’s All American.
Moreno averaged 16.0 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per game in his junior year. In all three of his 2024 state tournament games, he recorded a double-double.
On June 14, training camp gets underway in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The roster will be finalised on June 21 after roster finalists are revealed on June 16. Switzerland will host the FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup from June 28 to July 6. Tommy Lloyd of Arizona is the team’s coach. During training camp, Pope is one of three coaches who also serve as court coaches.
This was Pope’s first season at his alma college, and Kentucky finished 24-12 overall. They tied Indiana (1992–93) and Duke (1978–79) for the most wins in a single season in NCAA basketball history, including eight against Associated Press Top 15 opponents. Setting a new program record, five of the eight victories were against the top ten opponents. The Cats themselves ended the season rated No. 12 overall and spent the entire season inside the AP Top 25.
Pope and Adolph Rupp became the only coaches in program history to win all three of their initial meetings against AP Top 10 teams on January 4 after Pope defeated No. 6 Florida. He also did it in a theatrical manner. On Dec. 7, 2024, Pope and his team defeated Gonzaga, ranked seventh, after overcoming a 16-point deficit at halftime. It tied the biggest halftime deficit ever closed in the history of the program.
The Wildcats advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 by defeating Illinois and Troy. They made history by becoming the first team in almost two decades to advance to at least the second weekend of the tournament with no returning points from the previous season. In addition to finishing seventh in the country in points per game and setting a program record with 341 made three-pointers, Kentucky ended the season ranked in the top 10 in KenPom offensive efficiency. In addition, six players scored in double figures on average for the first time in the school’s history.
