Tennessee Lands South Florida WR Brandon Johnson over Miami
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
On Wednesday the Volunteers secured highly recruited wide receiver Brandon Johnson surprising many by pulling the south Florida talent away from Miami.
Johnson has been a steady receiver for American Heritage High School since his sophomore season when he pulled down 20 passes for 365 yards with six scores. In 2014 he pushed his stat line forward with 19 receptions for 430 yards with seven more scores.
College coaches saw the potential in the 6’3”, 172 pound, receiver with over 20 schools extending offers. Some of the colleges seeking his talents included Mississippi State, Arkansas, LSU, Louisville, Georgia, Ole Miss, N.C. State, South Carolina, Duke, Clemson, and of course local powerhouse Miami.
Johnson made the announcement official on Twitter around 8:30 p.m. posting a picture of himself at Tennessee with the tweet reading, “It’s great to finally be a Vol!!!”
The recruiting process was taken seriously by Johnson with visits to Miami and camps attended at LSU, Miami, and Georgia. A visit to Knoxville for the Vols “Orange Carpet” event in mid-June helped seal the deal.
Tennessee now has 16 verbal commitments to their 2016 recruiting class with Johnson being the second recruit slated to line up at receiver as soon as he steps on campus. The other receiver is Evangel Christian playmaker Corey Henderson. Johnson is also the second prospect pulled out of Florida with Naples running back Carlin Fils-Aime being the first.
Tennessee 2016 Recruiting Class
ATH Dorian Banks, 5’8”, 158 lbs, Gallatin High School, Gallatin, TN
ATH TaDarryl Marshall, 5’11”, 175 lbs, Leeds High School, Leeds, AL
CB Marquill Osborne, 5’11”, 183 lbs, Hough High School, Charlotte, NC
DE Chidi Okonya, 6’5”, 230 lbs, Riverdale High School, Riverdale, GA
DT D’Andre Christmas-Giles, 6’4”, 290 lbs, St. Augustine High School, New Orleans, LA
DT Alexis Johnson, 6’4”, 295 lbs, Fort scott C.C., Fort Scott, KS
LB Daniel Bituli, 6’3”, 228 lbs, Nashville Christian, Nashville, TN
LB Ja’Quain Blakely, 6’2”, 210 lbs, Colquitt County, Moultrie, GA
LB Timothy Hart, 6’1”, 220 lbs, Memphis University, Memphis, TN
OT Ryan Johnson, 6’6”, 275 lbs, Brentwood Academy, Brentwood, TN
QB Jarrett Guarantano, 6’4”, 188 lbs, Bergen Catholic, Oradell, NJ
RB Carlin Fils-Aime, 5’11”, 175 lbs, Naples High School, Naples, FL
TE Devante Brooks, 6’5”, 225 lbs, St. John’s College, Washington D.C.
TE Austin Pope, 6’4”, 218 lbs, Chritian Academy of Knoxville, Knoxville, TN
WR Jeff George, 6’6”, 190 lbs, Dodge City C.C., Dodge City, KS
WR Brandon Johnson, 6’3”, 172 lbs, American Heritage HS, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Photo credit: insidetheu.com; No. 8 Brandon Johnson scores a touchdown for American Heritage.
Photo credit: twitter.com; Brandon Johnson at Tennessee.