Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1193094
time. It's been very consistent, and I can say that about the entire way that Penn State has recruited me. Going back to that camp, when I got the o-er two summers ago, up until just a few hours before I announced my commitment, they've maintained a consistency that really impressed me, especially Coach Bowen. When you're being recruited by someone as long as he recruited me, es- pecially when they're recruiting you re- ally hard, there are going to be times when they try to switch things up. When they do that, they can sometimes show you a di-erent side to things. Maybe they'll slip up or whatever, but that was never something I noticed from Coach Bowen. So that's been really impressive to me. We've been talking for a long time and there was never a moment where I questioned his honesty. BWI Ricky Rahne is headed to Old Do- minion. What did you know about his move? JOHNSON Yeah, I learned about this right when I called them to let them know about my commitment. Coach [James] Franklin literally just got o- the phone with Coach Rahne when I called him. So I actually ended up ,nding out before anyone. Honestly, Coach Rahne is great, but I'm con,dent that Coach Franklin is going to keep the same system going. They kept a similar system following Coach [Joe] Moor- head's departure, and I'm con,dent nothing is really going to change with that. BWI I'm sure you heard about James Franklin's contract extension. Did that help PSU's chances down the stretch? JOHNSON I was pretty con,dent that he was going to be there. Just from the talks that I had with him, I don't think he was seriously considering something else. I was already pretty con,dent that he was going to be my coach, but just seeing him get that extension and know- ing that he's locked up for a while is comforting to know. But no, that wasn't something I put a lot of weight on lead- ing up to my decision. I ex- pected him to be there. BWI You're set to enroll early in a few weeks. How important were academics in all of this, especially to your mom? Did Penn State's academic standing have a big impact on what your family thought? JOHNSON It de,nitely did. When we were looking at all of our schools, one thing she consistently stressed to me was that she was afraid that certain schools wouldn't push me as much academically. One thing that was big for me was the alumni base. That was something I looked into. But yeah, overall, school was de,nitely a big part. That's one thing my mom would never let coaches slip by. We always knew that Penn State was a great academic school. I just felt like, overall, I got more boxes checked with Penn State than any other school. BWI Do you know what you want to major in? JOHNSON I'm thinking about doing psychology with a business minor or business with a psychology minor. I still have a lot to think about, but that's what interests me. BWI Is there anything that you really excel at? Anything that comes naturally to you athletically? Also, is there any- thing you really want to improve on be- tween now and next season? JOHNSON One thing I feel like I really excel at is my ball skills. I think I've al- ways had good hands. I feel like I go up and get the ball well. I've always felt con,dent when I'm one-on-one with someone that I'm coming down with the FAMILY REUNION Johnson's older brother Dominic plays quarter- back for the Uni- versity of Buffalo. Photo by Ryan Snyder