Johnson favors UCLA

Something about Monday night put Johnny Johnson in the mood for sharing. He discussed the official visit he set to UCLA on Jan. 18. And after that, the four-star cornerback just kind of opened up. Turns out, Johnson can do candid with the best of them.

That whole thing about the Bruins being tied at the top of his list with Washington and Stanford? Out the window. On Monday night, Johnson seemed focused on just one school. So with just a few short sentences, he drained some of the lingering mystery from his recruitment.

"Actually, UCLA is my frontrunner at the moment," he said.

So why now? Why, on Monday night, did the Fresno (Calif.) Central East senior suddenly decide to name a favorite and place both the Huskies and Cardinal on the second rung? The answers he gave to those questions weren't definitive. Instead, he just continued talking about how Jim Mora's program piqued his interest.

There's no shortage of bullet points in the pro column under UCLA.

"The LA area is not too far from home, their degree is very powerful, the program is on the rise," Jonson said. "I like the things they do defensively and there are guys at my position that will be graduating and giving me an opportunity to come in and play early."

After naming a leader and outlining the reasons why he decided to do so. Johnson continued to speak candidly about the Bruins. For a few minutes, he was an open book. The timetable for his decision is rough, but that's mostly because he thinks his recruitment could be over before he returns from his visit to Los Angeles.

"There's a chance that I'll be able to commit once I go out there," Johnson said.

Johnson has no other official visits set up at this point. He lists 10 total scholarship offers.

As a senior, Johnson helped lead Central East to an 11-win season.