Rivals250 RB Johnson commits to West Virginia Mountaineers football
West Virginia has landed a major piece to the puzzle in the 2021 recruiting class with the commitment of Edwardsville (Ill.) running back Justin Johnson to the Mountaineers.
Johnson, 5-foot-11, 198-pounds, selected the football program over offers from California, Illinois, Louisville, Michigan State and Purdue among others after making a pair of visits to Morgantown during the spring and then taking time to sort out the process.
The Rivals.com four-star prospect first visited campus during the Jan. 25 weekend and walked away highly impressed labeling the experience a perfect 10 out of 10. The versatile running back then returned to campus in March prior to the dead period and was sold on what he saw out of the school yet again as he was able to get a more in-depth look at things.
Johnson built a strong connection with running backs coach Chad Scott throughout the process as well as head coach Neal Brown. The duo impressed the talented running back during his trips to campus with how much individual attention he received from the coaching staff during his time on campus.
“It kind of surprised me, I didn’t expect it at all. Just the way everything is ran down there, coach Brown is a great head coach and I love the way he runs the program,” Johnson said. “It’s more like a family business and he’s a player’s coach. They’re all one.”
Scott was especially important as he handled developing the initial interest with the versatile back and things only continued to progress from that point forward. Even with the dead period ongoing, the Mountaineers were a consistent presence in his recruitment which put them at the top of his list.
The coaching staff prioritized Johnson’s ability to fit into the program as a back that can not only generate tough yards between the tackles but can be used in space as well as the passing game. Johnson is coming off a junior season in which he rushed for 1,120 yards and 19 touchdowns in just nine games.
The pledge of Johnson fills a need for West Virginia in the 2021 cycle at running back and gives the program a prospect which they prioritized from early on in the process. Johnson is rated as the nation’s No. 248th best prospect overall in the 2021 recruiting class.
Overall, Johnson is the 15th commitment for the Mountaineers and the second at running back behind fellow four-star prospect Perry (Oh.) athlete Jaylen Anderson.
WVSports.com will have more on Johnson in the near future.
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