Kentucky basketball picks top-30 senior Acaden Lewis

Top-30 senior Acaden Lewis announced his commitment to Kentucky on Saturday, giving Mark Pope and the Wildcats their second impact guard in the 2025 class.

Lewis also had Duke and UConn on his final list, although both programs had already added top-20 recruits at the point guard position in recent weeks. He took official visits to all three schools, with Kentucky getting the last visit and winning him over.

“I feel like there's an opportunity to start early and play a priority role with all the point guards leaving,” Lewis told ESPN. “Coach Pope and his staff have also made me a top priority through their actions. They visited me and talked a lot about basketball. I love the system they use, it's fast and allows the guards to read and run the team and allows freedom but still has rules.”

While the impending departures of point guards Lamont Butler and Kerr Kriisa played a role in Lewis' decision, it was also his relationship with Pope that brought him to Lexington.

“Pope is not only a great basketball mind, but also a genuine human being,” Lewis said. “He impressed me when he talked about basketball, and I was also impressed and intrigued by his philanthropic efforts.”

Lewis, a 6-foot-1 point guard from Washington, DC who attends Sidwell Friends (Maryland), had a breakout high school season as a junior, winning Gatorade Player of the Year for Washington, DC , and then backed that up with Team Durant on the Nike EYBL circuit in the spring and summer. He averaged 16.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists in EYBL play, ranking third on the leaderboard in assists.

Lewis has a strong feel for the game and plays with composure and pace. The left-hander is excellent at finding his place on the field to score or provide for others, and his reach extends well beyond the arc.

Lewis joins five-star guard Jasper Johnson (No. 13) and center Malachi Moreno (No. 37) as the third top-50 prospect to commit to Pope and Kentucky in the 2025 class.

Lewis says he's looking forward to playing in front of the fans at Rupp Arena.

“BBN is absolutely crazy,” he said of the Kentucky fan base. “In my direct messages they tell me to come over and when I visited many of them knew me and even wished me a happy birthday. The community feels real.”