The Hurry-Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
Evaluating Johnson's first Columbus visit
When Will Johnson and his father, Deon Johnson, originally planned their first-ever visit to Columbus* they had hoped they would at least get a taste of the atmosphere of an Ohio State-Michigan game even if it was from outside the stadium.
*Will’s first visit, period. Deon, a former Michigan defensive back in the 90s, has only been to Columbus when he faced the Buckeyes as a player.
When The Game was canceled earlier this week, the pair already had plans to come visit. Instead of canceling the trip, Deon says that his son looked at him and said, “‘We already had plans to go up, let’s go up and see what it’s like.’”
That’s what brought the younger Johnson – one of the Buckeyes’ highest-priority targets as a five-star cornerback ranked No. 8 overall in the country’s 2022 recruiting class – and his dad to Columbus this weekend for a quick day trip on Saturday afternoon.
It wasn’t the same type of experience as they had been anticipating had there been a game, of course, but it was an overall “really positive” visit, Deon told Eleven Warriors on Saturday night after the two had returned home to Grosse Pointe in Michigan.
“It was a good visit, and it was all positive from what we saw,” Deon said. “Just from the atmosphere and the people we saw, it was a good visit. If I had to put a number rating on it, I don’t know if I can do that. We didn’t get a chance to see the coaches and all that. Just hoping we can get back down there when things open up so he can get a true gauge on the university and how it is.”
Deon Johnson (right) and his son, five-star cornerback target Will Johnson, visited Ohio State on Saturday.
The trip included a lot of time spent on High Street, as the two took a trip into downtown Columbus and walked around to tour the city a bit before grabbing lunch and driving all the way up High Street to campus. They were able to hit up a mall to snag some Ohio State gear, check out some of the shops in the area, walk around campus (complete with a campus map marked with hot spots to visit), get a look at academic buildings and the library and check out the outside of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and other athletics facilities.
“We got a chance to walk around the football building and see it from the outside,” Deon said. “We had a virtual tour before and just kind of seeing the building from the outside and seeing things from the virtual tour and just putting those together. It was good. I’m hoping that we can get up there if everything settles down. Hopefully this spring we’ll get up there.
“Will enjoyed it. He said he wished he could’ve done more football stuff. He enjoyed Columbus. He said it was about what he expected with things being shut down. With all things being the way they are, the visit wasn’t a usual visit, but for the time he spent and the things he got to see and experience, we had a good time.”
One of the cooler experiences of the trip was when they were on High Street and started talking with the Buckeye fans at one of the shops or restaurants they visited. It’s not as if the fans recognized Will as one of Ohio State’s top recruiting targets, but during conversations with some fans, the Johnsons told them he was a prospective Buckeye cornerback. That drew some excitement.
“There were people still out and partying and having a good time and enjoying themselves as if it was a game day,” Deon said. “I was impressed with that. I was impressed with all the Buckeye fans. There were a couple people we were talking to that when they found out why we were there, and that William was being recruited and on a visit, they had nothing but positive things to say about the university: ‘Please come to Ohio State.’ That type of thing. The people we met, they made him feel wanted. He was all smiles so it was good for him.
“He had a pretty cool time. He enjoyed himself. He had a chance to experience it and see what Columbus is all about – a shutdown Columbus. Obviously, things would’ve been a lot more active if the game was on. But it was still active. There were still long lines at the bars and everyone was in their Ohio State gear and everything. It was still a little crowded on High Street. It was lively. … High Street was still crowded so you can tell how it’d be for a game day. That seemed like the ‘it place’ to be if you’re looking for something to do in Columbus.”
Potential sting to see Will pick the Buckeyes?
Deon was born and bred in Detroit and has lived there for the past 10-12 years. He loves hailing from the Motor City and says it would “be really hard for me to leave here.”
That’s not necessarily the case with his son.
“It would be hard for me to leave,” Deon emphasized. “William is a whole different story. He’s his own man.”
This weekend’s visit allowed Will to get a bit better feel for campus and life in the city/college town of Columbus. It wasn’t necessarily an eye-opening visit that is going to be a turning point in getting him to become a Buckeye, but it was important nonetheless. He is still focused on Ohio State and Michigan as two of his top schools, in addition to Arizona State, Oklahoma and USC, the latter of which the Johnsons are looking to make a visit to this winter.
All five schools are still in contention as Will takes his time with his decision.
“I don’t think anything’s coming within the next month or two. If there’s anything, it’ll probably be more like spring of 2021. And I’m thinking that’s the earliest,” Deon said. “I think it’s one of those things where he just wants to take his time a little bit and then see how things shake out.
“You know like I know, come February college football’s gonna look totally different. There’s gonna be a lot of coaching changes so he’s gonna wait to see how all that shakes out with coaching changes and coordinator changes and see who’s where and who’s doing what in the next couple of months.”
Was Deon alluding to a potential change on the Michigan staff? Not necessarily.
“No, there’s gonna be changes made everywhere,” Deon said. “When programs are successful, they hire their coordinators as head coaches. I’m just waiting to see how everything plays out. It’s not just with Michigan. There could be changes at all fives schools, who knows? Somebody recruiting him now could wind up somewhere else. He’s gonna wait to see where some of these coaches move around and go from that point.”
And as a former Wolverine himself, would it sting a little bit to see his son head to Columbus to play for the Buckeyes?
“I don’t wanna say it would be tough. It would be obvious that he feels the best for him, and all I could do at that point is support him. You might not see me where too much Ohio State gear around, though,” Deon said. “My daughter graduated from Michigan State. And you know what? I got to the point that it was all about supporting my daughter so I would do the same thing with William.”
