Blue White Illustrated

M A R C H 1 9 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 12 A great catch PSU bolsters its receiver corps by landing New Jersey prospect Juwan Johnson R E C R U I T I N G M A R C   N A R D U C C I | B L U E W H I T E C O N T R I B U T O R Juwan Johnson, a Rivals four-star re- ceiver from Glassboro, N.J., ended the frenzied recruiting before it really had time to heat up. The 6-foot-5, 205- pound Johnson made an unofficial visit to Penn State last weekend and upon leaving, gave a verbal commitment to coach James Franklin. "Basically I had a good feeling from the moment I got on campus," Johnson said. "The coaching staff, from the head coach all the way down, is a good group of peo- ple." Johnson said the proximity of the cam- pus to his home, which is approximately four hours away, played a major role in his decision. "That was also a huge factor," he said. "I could go far and grow up on own, but not too far where those close to me can't see me play." As with many who make their college decision early in the process, Johnson ex- pressed relief. "It's great to be done with this and end- ing all the coaches calling me," he said. "It is finally good for me to relax." When was pointed out that coaches from other colleges will likely still dial his number, Johnson, insisted that his deci- sion has been made and doesn't plan to entertain any other offers. And it's not like he was lacking other potential suitors. Among the schools he said he was con- sidering were Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Boston Col- lege and Wisconsin. All of them offered scholarships and there were many more as well. Those seeing Johnson's junior statistics won't be impressed, but one must look beyond the numbers to gauge his true value. In the first game of the year, he suffered a high ankle sprain and physi- cally, he was never the same all season. He missed three of his team's 12 games, but played his best football at the end, when Glassboro won its final four games to capture the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 1 championship. "After my injury, I was never 100 per- cent during the season," Johnson said. In the 44-0 shutout of Penns Grove in the championship game, he had three re- ceptions for 88 yards, returned an inter- ception 31 yards for a touchdown and returned a punt 75 yards for another score. He said he didn't feel completely healthy until about a month after that Dec. 7 championship game. If Johnson is fully healthy, he could prove to be even higher than a four-star recruit. That's because few players boast his combination of size and speed. He has been timed at 4.4 second in the 40-yard dash, and while some people question 40 times, there was nothing questionable about his sophomore track season. Johnson won the Group 1 title in the 200 meters, running in a time of 21.89 seconds. He then placed fourth in the Meet of Champions, which consisted of the top finishers in all four public school groups and the two nonpublic school groups. Johnson also runs the 100 meters. He ran 10.95 in the state meet and said his personal best is 10.6. Penn State has recruited him as a wide receiver, but with that type of speed, the defensive coaches may be fighting for his services. Johnson said he is also inter- ested in serving as a return man. "He has incredible track times, is fast, big and can catch and fits everything that Penn State is looking for," said Glassboro coach Mark Maccarone, who drove John- son to the unofficial visit. Johnson also comes from good football pedigree. His older brothers Darius and George played on previous Glassboro South Jersey championship teams. (In New Jersey, there is no state champi- onship in football, so winning a sectional – in Glassboro's case, South Jersey – is as far as a team can go.) George Johnson also starred at Rutgers as a defensive end, has had stints in the NFL with Tampa Bay and Minnesota. Juwan Johnson said that he is gearing up for the track season, where one of his goals is to improve in the 100. After track, it will be a summer of foot- ball workouts, as he said his No. 1 goal is to have Glassboro defend its South Jersey title. He also was a key contributor as a freshman when Glassboro won the South Jersey Group 1 championship. He has an eye on getting stronger and if possible, faster, for his time at Penn State. PENN STATE CLASS OF 2015 COMMITMENTS* NAME POS HT WT HOME SCHOOL Saquon Barkley RB 5-11 190 Whitehall, Pa. Whitehall Ryan Bates OG 6-5 285 Warminster, Pa. Archbishop Wood Ryan Buchholz DE 6-6 230 Malvern, Pa. Greater Valley Kamonte Carter DE 6-4 230 Gaithersburg, Md. Gaithersburg Jake Cooper LB 6-2 226 Warminster, Pa. Archbishop Wood Juwan Johnson WR 6-4 205 Glassboro, N.J. Glassboro Jarvis Miller DB 6-2 185 West Suffield, Conn. Suffield Andre Robinson RB 5-10 210 Harrisburg, Pa. Bishop McDevitt * As of March 18

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