Johnson is headed to the Midwest

By now everyone has heard the rumors that Portland (Ore.) Lincoln defensive lineman Ethan Johnson has committed to Notre Dame. Confirming that with Johnson will be tough as he's currently in Canada for the next week with a broken cell phone in hand.

We did talk with Johnson's trainer Forest Sherman, who also has helped to oversee his recruitment and it does soound like the talented lineman is headed to South Bend.

"Yep, he committed last night," Sherman said. "It was kind of a surprise, but then again it wasn't. We all thought Ethan wanted to take his time and go on some official visits before committing anywhere. The fact that he committed to Notre Dame wasn't really a surprise though.

"He basically really liked three schools, Notre Dame, Michigan and USC. He already visited USC and then spent the last two weeks at Michigan's camp and Notre Dame's camp. I talked to him while he was in Michigan and he loved it there. I still thought Notre Dame and USC were the teams to beat but I know Michigan gave him a lot to think about it.

"Then while at Notre Dame, I could tell he was really enjoying himself. The thing people need to know about Ethan is he's a really straighforward down to earth kid and was looking at this process much differently than most recruits. He basically took football out of the equation and said he wanted to go to the school where he would fit in the best academically.

"For him, that was Notre Dame. He loves their Business program and his mind set was, if football was taken away, where he would he want to be, and for him, it was Notre Dame.

"After the camp yesterday, he drove off with his mom and they started talking about the decision. He didn't commit while he was there and I think that's why he was so hard to get a hold of. It was after he left campus that he decided to end the process so he called up the coaches and committed. He's pretty excited, I talked to him last night and he's very excited to be Irish."

We'll continue to try and reach Johnson to hear more about his decision from the horses mouth himself but until then, it does look like the Irish have landed one of the true elite defensive lineman in the nation. Just how good is Johnson? He's arguably the top defensive lineman in the West region at tackle or end and could play anywhere along the defensive line in college.