Jack Lambert
03-17-2016, 11:59 AM
D.J. Johnson, a consensus four-star 2017 defensive end from Sacramento, California, has 32 offers to play at the next level from all over the country, but there?s one school that stands out to him above the rest.
Ole Miss.
?They have so many things to offer,? Johnson said Wednesday. ?The tailgating is crazy, the fans are crazy and it is just a great place that I can see myself definitely considering as a new home. It wasn?t hard to put them at number one.?
For a guy on the west coast with no ties to Mississippi, Johnson seems to know a good bit about Ole Miss ? including its past, present and potential future.
?The coaching staff is great and the players there love the coaching staff,? Johnson said. ?I want to go somewhere where the players believe in the coaches. Then the players themselves are like a family and it has a great atmosphere. Ole Miss has a great future coming. They have a great quarterback coming. (Shea Patterson) is a great dude in the class in front of me and he?s a stud who is going to get over there and ball. It?s going to keep getting better. They took down Alabama two years in a row and it will only get better.?
RELATED: Akeem Judd and Jordan Wilkins preparing for new roles
Johnson doesn?t plan to make a commitment until after his senior season and added that the upcoming college football season will hold significant weight in his decision. He said he ?definitely plans to visit? Ole Miss, but has not locked in a date. Before making a decision, Johnson would like to further develop his relationships with Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze and defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator for defense Chris Kiffin. Michigan and California are also very much in the mix.
Johnson is listed at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. One scout from an FBS school that offered Johnson called him one of the most athletic and versatile defensive ends in the 2017 class. Johnson racked up 87 tackles, including 32 for a loss, with 14.5 sacks and five forced fumbles as a junior for Luther Burbank High.
The 247Sports Composite ranks Johnson as the No. 12 weak-side defensive end in the nation and No. 21 player in California.
Southeastern Conference schools such as Florida, Alabama and LSU have offered Johnson in recent weeks.
?That actually kind of surprised me a little bit,? Johnson said. ?The speed of it and how it reached that far out surprised me. Teams from that far out coming to get me is surprising. They told me I?m different than a lot of people and that I remind them of great athletes who were naturally gifted and were just ballers. That?s something people want in their programs, someone who can dominate for three or four years. I talk to a lot of them and they say that they haven?t came to Sacramento to recruit anybody so I definitely feel blessed being in the position that I am in.?
Ole Miss.
?They have so many things to offer,? Johnson said Wednesday. ?The tailgating is crazy, the fans are crazy and it is just a great place that I can see myself definitely considering as a new home. It wasn?t hard to put them at number one.?
For a guy on the west coast with no ties to Mississippi, Johnson seems to know a good bit about Ole Miss ? including its past, present and potential future.
?The coaching staff is great and the players there love the coaching staff,? Johnson said. ?I want to go somewhere where the players believe in the coaches. Then the players themselves are like a family and it has a great atmosphere. Ole Miss has a great future coming. They have a great quarterback coming. (Shea Patterson) is a great dude in the class in front of me and he?s a stud who is going to get over there and ball. It?s going to keep getting better. They took down Alabama two years in a row and it will only get better.?
RELATED: Akeem Judd and Jordan Wilkins preparing for new roles
Johnson doesn?t plan to make a commitment until after his senior season and added that the upcoming college football season will hold significant weight in his decision. He said he ?definitely plans to visit? Ole Miss, but has not locked in a date. Before making a decision, Johnson would like to further develop his relationships with Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze and defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator for defense Chris Kiffin. Michigan and California are also very much in the mix.
Johnson is listed at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. One scout from an FBS school that offered Johnson called him one of the most athletic and versatile defensive ends in the 2017 class. Johnson racked up 87 tackles, including 32 for a loss, with 14.5 sacks and five forced fumbles as a junior for Luther Burbank High.
The 247Sports Composite ranks Johnson as the No. 12 weak-side defensive end in the nation and No. 21 player in California.
Southeastern Conference schools such as Florida, Alabama and LSU have offered Johnson in recent weeks.
?That actually kind of surprised me a little bit,? Johnson said. ?The speed of it and how it reached that far out surprised me. Teams from that far out coming to get me is surprising. They told me I?m different than a lot of people and that I remind them of great athletes who were naturally gifted and were just ballers. That?s something people want in their programs, someone who can dominate for three or four years. I talk to a lot of them and they say that they haven?t came to Sacramento to recruit anybody so I definitely feel blessed being in the position that I am in.?