5/23/2023 football Edit

Jordon Johnson-Rubell talks five finalists, official visits

John Garcia Jr. • Rivals.com

National Recruiting Analyst

An All-American secondary prospect originally from Texas, Jordon Johnson-Rubell has long been on major college football program radar, only enhanced by relocating to IMG Academy ahead of his junior campaign in 2022.

Since, contenders have taken shape for the versatile safety type, who racked up nearly four dozen offers before spring football came to a close this month.

Now, the four-star is ready to take the next step with the release of his top five programs -- Texas, TCU, USC, Ohio State and Michigan -- in honor of his mother's birthday on Tuesday.

"It's basically the programs who built the best relationships with me since September 1of last year," Johnson-Rubell said. "Every school in my top five, I've been there already."

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Johnson-Rubell will take a quartet of official visits in June to help shape the next step of his recruitment. All but TCU, where he is quite familiar, are on the docket over the next several weeks.

USC will host him the weekend of June 2 before weekend treks to Michigan (June 9), Ohio State (June 16) and Texas (June 23) to round out the month.

The Rivals100 prospect broke down each remaining contender ahead of the critical round of official visits.

USC: "When Lincoln Riley was at Oklahoma, I was a big Oklahoma guy, like I was going to commit to Oklahoma. It was all love up there. Then when he (Riley) Went to USC, I followed him because he's always going to have a great offense and he's going to have the best quarterback every year. All he needs is defense. Coach Donte Williams, I was in the film room with him going over straight football. His assistants have played, too. Taylor Mays played at USC and Bookie Radley-Hiles from IMG is there, too."

Ohio State: "I went to Ohio State in March. Coach (Perry) Eliano is a Texas guy, he's from Kileeen, so there's a connection there. He came out to my practice and I know how he coaches. They have the best receivers every year, so guarding the best receivers at practice every day would make my game better. They're always a top four team in the country, always fighting for a national championship."

Michigan: "Coach Jay Harbaugh, the son of the head coach, is a great coach. He's smart and has been telling me things I can work on to get better. Coach Clink (Steve Clinkscale) is also a great DB coach who came up here to see me play. They've built a great foundation and are competing for national championships. They got guys like Dax Hill, Will Johnson, Mike (Sainristil), guys like that -- so they do produce DBs."

Texas: "Coach (Blake) Gideon, I've seen him a bunch of times. The communication is perfect there and coach Sark (Steve Sarkisian) is a great coach. They get in the top 10 and they're changing the Texas program around. And them moving to the SEC is definitely a big thing for me, competing against the top colleges in the country."

TCU: "That's the hometown school. I didn't grow up a big TCU fan, but ever since they began recruiting me I became more of a fan. I stay five minutes away. They've produced two Jim Thorpe award winners in the last three years, guys like Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson. Coach (Paul) Gonzales is always texting me, sending me film and telling me things to watch in how they do. The new coaching staff with coach (Sonny) Dykes is going to be there for a minute after their great season last year."

Johnson-Rubell, who confirmed to Rivals this list is a final five and not just a top five, will be navigating official visits to and from his Texas home before returning to IMG Academy in July.

As for a verbal commitment, the plan remains to come off the board before the beginning of his senior season.

"What school has better education than the other? What coach am I most comfortable with?" Johnson-Rubell said ahead of the trips. "All these schools feel equal, so they made the top five for a reason."