Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2021 43 2021 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY MIKE SINGER Per the Rivals recruiting database, JoJo Johnson was Merrillville (Ind.) High's lone football player to sign with a Power Five school in the 2021 class. In the previous cycle, offensive lineman Martes Lewis inked with Minnesota. Before Lewis, you have to go all the way back to 2006 to find the last time a prospect from Merrill- ville earned a football scholarship to a Power Five school. In that class, Notre Dame signed five-star running back James Al- dridge, who rushed for 979 yards and three touchdowns during his ca- reer with the Irish. "When you have a player who is good enough to go play at Notre Dame and fits the bill academically, that is special," Merrillville head coach Brad Seiss said. Johnson, a 5-10, 170-pound Rivals three-star prospect, helped lead Mer- rillville to a 10-2 record, and the Pirates reached the Indiana 6A state semifi- nals. He won 2020 Post-Tribune Of- fensive Player of the Year honors and accounted for 14 total touchdowns. "He was huge every single Friday for us," Seiss added. "We asked a lot of him offensively as we lined him up everywhere and asked him to do a lot of different things for us. De- fensively, he was either our bound- ary corner or, if the other team had a good receiver, he would chase them around and play man. We can always count on JoJo to take away their best player, and then we'd worry about the other guys from there. "He can really run. He's able to catch the ball down the field with hitches and slants and make big plays on offense. He is able to take rocket screens and take them for a score. On defense, we can bring him off the edge against blitzes and he can get to the quarterback. He can spy big-time receivers, too, and the [Division I] guys that he covered in three games had five catches for 16 yards." Johnson's other Power Five offers came from Indiana, Iowa, Michi- gan State, Purdue and Washington State. Seiss believes the recruitment would've blown up if it weren't for the NCAA enacting a dead period, which doesn't allow coaches to go out on the road to evaluate recruits in person. Additionally, Merrillville's spring sports were canceled. "He was going to run track for us; I think that would have sped up the process for him quite a bit," Seiss ex- plained. "He always felt that he was better than some of the places that were offering him. No disrespect to those schools, but he thought he was in the upper-echelon of high school talent, which made him press as a player sometimes. "He did have a great senior sea- son though and eventually the of- fers came in, and Notre Dame too. We are an hour away from Notre Dame so when he got that offer, we were pretty confident that was where he would end up. It was good to see him have the patience to work through the process and be patient to get that offer he wanted. Some guys are more worried about their situa- tion rather than the team's situation, but we never had that problem with JoJo in any way whatsoever." Next up for Johnson is preparing for enrolling at Notre Dame in the summer. He will play cornerback for the Fighting Irish. ✦ JoJo Johnson Is Ready For The Challenge At Notre Dame Johnson scored 14 touchdowns while helping lead Merrillville (Ind.) High to the Indiana 6A state semifinals this past fall. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM JOJO JOHNSON CORNERBACK 5-10 · 175 MERRILLVILLE H.S. MERRILLVILLE, IND. RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE ✪ ✪ ✪ — — 13 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 58* 11 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 48* 15 * Ranked as ATH STATISTICS • As a senior in 2020, he recorded 12 carries for 156 yards and three touchdowns, reeled in 47 catches for 878 yards and 10 scores, returned four kickoffs for 201 yards and one touchdown, and notched 17 tackles and seven passes broken up on defense. • Had 43 carries for 423 yards and nine touch- downs, plus 19 receptions for 286 yards and two scores, in 2019. NOTABLE • Born on June 30, 2003. • 2020 Post-Tribune Offensive Player of the Year. • 2020 Indiana MaxPreps All-State high school second-team defense. • 2020 Post-Tribune Football Offensive All-Area first-team offense. • 2020 Indiana Football Coaches Association Top 50 Players. RECRUITMENT • Committed to Notre Dame on Nov. 24, 2020, just two days after receiving an offer from the Irish. • Was originally committed to Cincinnati for several months when Marcus Freeman was still the defensive coordinator. • Recruited by cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens and recruiting coordinator Brian Polian. • Visited Notre Dame for its home game versus Virginia in September 2019. 2021 PROJECTION Johnson is likely to redshirt as a true freshman in 2021. THEY SAID IT Rivals Midwest recruiting analyst Josh Helm- holdt: "College coaches are enamored with height at the cornerback position, but height doesn't do a lick of good if you don't have the fluidity to flip your hips and the top-end speed to stay with elite receivers. Johnson has that fluidity and speed, but it was the playmaking ability he showed as a senior that I believe ignited the late interest in him this fall. "You need a certain attitude and mentality to play cornerback at the highest level, and Johnson proved he possesses that playmaker gene. Iowa, Michigan State and Purdue all made him a prior- ity down the stretch, and all wanted him badly. Johnson is not going to make or break this class, but he certainly strengthens it." National recruiting analyst Tom Lemming (evaluating Johnson at receiver): "He brings av- erage size but very good speed and consistency at the receiver position. He shows the ability to win contested balls, has decent length, strong hands and a knack for catching the ball at its highest point. I was also impressed with his route running and ability to get open."