MLive
3/26
USUSC, Texas courting Big Red
Sunday, March 26, 2006
By Tom Kendra
CHRONICLE ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Ronald Johnson literally leapt into his current position as the No. 1-rated junior defensive back in the nation at last year's 7-on-7 team passing camp at Notre Dame.
Bobby Burton, executive vice president of Rivals.com and one of the nation's top college football recruiting analysts, had just walked over to see for himself if "RoJo" was really as good as advertised.
On the next play, Johnson -- then a sophomore at Muskegon High School -- locked into perfect 1-on-1 coverage, leapt about three feet in the air, snatched the ball violently out of the receiver's grasp and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown.
"The kid is a gazelle," Burton said, shaking his head as he walked away.
That was just the beginning.
Johnson was even more impressive at a Nike camp last spring in Ann Arbor, when he placed first out of 435 kids in the pro-agility drill, which recruiters value more than the 40-yard dash because it measures explosiveness, lateral movement and ability to change directions. He also finished in the top 10 percent at the camp with a sub-4.5 clocking in the 40-yard dash.
Those performances -- plus what he's shown at Hackley Stadium the past three years -- have made the humble, soft-spoken Johnson the top-rated junior football player in Michigan.
He is also ranked as the top defensive back in the entire country and the No. 6 junior overall, regardless of position.
According to Josh Helmholdt, the publisher of MichiganPreps.com, Johnson impressed scouts so much that he rose up to the No. 1 junior in the country on some boards -- even ahead of quarterback phenom Jimmy Clausen of California -- before he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee two days before the Big Reds' fourth game last fall against Zeeland West.
"Depending on how things go this fall, he has the potential to be the No. 1 recruit in the entire country," said Helmholdt.
"He's that good."
Polite, humble, driven
Muskegon assistant coach Antonio Suhuba-Baruti pulls his old van into Johnson's driveway every morning at exactly 5:20 a.m. -- long before the sun or almost anyone else in the Marsh Field neighborhood is up.
Johnson, now a 6-0, 185-pound junior, comes out and always thanks Coach Baruti for picking him up.
The two talk about life, church, waking up and working out on the short drive to the high school.
"The kid is so polite, it's amazing," said Suhuba-Baruti, the former Muskegon Heights head football coach who is now a Spanish teacher at Muskegon. "If I have to pick up other kids, he always crawls way into the back."
The only thing that matches his humility is his work ethic, according to Muskegon head football coach Tony Annese.
"We actually have to beg him to stop and not overdo it," said Annese, who Johnson lists, along with Baruti, as the top male role models in his life.
"Most kids work out about three times a week and you have to push them to do it. Ronald works out three times a day and you have to tear him off the machines."
Johnson set the Muskegon school record with 10 interceptions as a sophomore and caught a touchdown pass in the Big Reds' 31-7 victory over Orchard Lake St. Mary's for the Division 2 state championship in 2004.
He burst out of the gate last season by scoring three times in the first 15 minutes of the opener against Grand Rapids Creston, despite being slowed by a shoulder injury.
Johnson scored on a 60-yard punt return, a 36-yard pass and an 85-yard kickoff return. He also threw a spiral 50 yards in the air on an end-around, connecting with Elton Williams down to the 1-yard line.
But the season took an ugly turn in preparation for the Week 4 showdown with Zeeland West, when Johnson tore his ACL in practice, ending his season. Two days later, after quarterback Jason Ruud also went down with a season-ending injury, the Big Reds lost 37-19 and never recovered.
This fall, Johnson is expected to be 100 percent. And the Big Reds are expected to be back as well.
Johnson will be the team's big name, but certainly not the only one.
He will play free safety on defense and wide receiver on offense, along with returning punts and kickoffs. He can also scare the wits out of a defense by running the Muskegon veer at quarterback, something which he concedes he might do this upcoming season in big games.
Ashton Leggett returns as a bruising fullback and Chris Crawford gained experience by starting six games at quarterback last year as a sophomore. Others to watch for are juniors-to-be Carlin Landingham up front and Johnson's younger brother, Corey.
"All of the recognition and attention I get, that comes second," said Johnson, who also has a freshman sister, Shumeka. "The main thing is for us to go out and take care of business. We want to win another state championship."
SUBHEAD: Star-gazing at Muskegon High
Annese laughs when he plays the message, which he has kept on the answering machine in the Muskegon High School football office.
"Hey Tony, this is Pete," the message goes, sounding like an old friend. "I'll be around today. Give me a call back."
The caller was Pete Carroll, coach of the USC Trojans, who won back-to-back national titles before finishing second to Texas last season.
No question, Johnson has brought an incredible amount of attention to Muskegon High School.
Annese gets his fair share of mail every day, but he figures that Johnson's mail outnumbers his "20 to 1." He estimates that he spends about two hours a day talking to coaches, scouts or media members about Johnson.
Annese says the opportunity to coach players like Johnson and 2004 Associated Press Class A player of the year Terrance Taylor is worth distractions that come along with it.
Annese said he couldn't ask for two better players -- or people.
"Those two guys are the absolute model for what we're trying to achieve here," said Annese. "Terrance has been an ambassador for Muskegon High School and Ronald is the same way. We challenge the rest of our kids not to be as good of players as those two, but to be as good of people as those two."
Michigan is considered the frontrunner in the "RoJo" recruiting battle, for many reasons. First, is his friendship with Taylor, a projected starter at noseguard this fall for the Wolverines. Second, his closest relationship with a college coach is with U-M defensive backs coach Ron English. Third, he took his first official visit there.
But unlike Taylor, who verbally committed to U-M before his senior season began, Johnson has no plans to do that and said he might not make a final decision before the official signing day in February.
"Part of me wants to stay close, so that everyone can come see me play," said Johnson, who some schools have not ruled out as a receiver, or even a running back. "But part of me wants to go south where it's warm. I don't want to rule out any options."
His non-committal status has many of the biggest-name coaches in the country -- including Texas' Mack Brown, Notre Dame's Charlie Weis and Carroll -- contemplating personal visits to the Muskegon High campus in May.
He already has full-ride offers on the table from Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Purdue, Clemson, Tennessee and
Ohio State -- among others.
Johnson has a 2.6 GPA in his core classes, which already makes him a partial qualifier for Division I and Division II eligibility. He is awaiting his ACT test results to see if he becomes a full qualifier, which could turn the already-crazy recruiting of him to downright nuts.
"It could get pretty interesting around here," Annese concedes.
SUBHEAD: 'The Man,' on and off the field
Johnson is unquestionably "the man" at Muskegon High School football right now, as well as the top junior football player in the state of Michigan.
But he has been the man at home for most of his life.
Ronald is the second-oldest of four children of Miranda Johnson, and the oldest boy. He became the man of the house when his father left the family when he was 4 years old. Ronald said he only talks to his father on the phone "every blue moon."
"That's the sad part of my life," said Johnson, 17, whose younger brother, Corey, is a year behind him in school and is also projected as a two-way starter for the Big Reds this fall.
"I had to step up and be the father figure. My mom has always worked two jobs to make the house payments. I had to cook dinner and clean up."
"RoJo" is motivated by many things -- reaching his potential, making up for an injury-shortened junior year, earning a college scholarship, paying back his coaches for all they've done for him and bringing positive attention to Muskegon High School.
But he readily admits his greatest inspiration comes from his mother.
His dream is to play in the NFL and use the money from a big contract to buy a new house for his mom and allow her to stop working so much.
His nightmare, he says without hesitation, is getting injured again.
Johnson said he puts both his dream and his nightmare "in God's hands," and he prays about both of them on his regular visits to Grace Temple church in downtown Muskegon.
"I'm a very religious person," said Johnson. "I've worked extra hard to be the best I can and to build my knee up stronger than it was before. It's in God's hands now.
"I'm just going to go out on the football field and have fun."
