Florida Gators receiver commit Isaiah Johnson (6-3, 190, West Palm Beach, FL Dwyer) got a preview of what playing at Florida will be like on Friday when he participated in the Gators 7-on-7 tournament.
Johnson committed to Florida in March and ever since then he has been a frequent visitor to Gainesville as he tries to grow closer to the staff.
“This was my third trip up here so I’m getting comfortable here,” Johnson said. “The coaches make me feel at home here and I love the campus and I love the college town. The coaches just make me feel welcome around here.”
Receivers coach Kerry Dixon was the first coach to greet Johnson when he arrived in Gainesville and he has had a constant message to the Dwyer prospect.
“Coach Dixon tells me that they need me to play early at Florida,” Johnson said. “He said that I know that, so I better be working hard and ready to play when I get up here next year.”
When it wasn’t Dixon with Johnson, then it was another coach, including head coach Jim McElwain who has been a lead recruiter for Johnson.
“Coach McElwain says that he’s going to run a pro-style offense that is real balanced,” he said. “He said that they are going to have a good running game but they need receivers like me to come in and beat people over the top. He said he expects me to play early.”
One message that Florida has been telling Johnson over and over is that they want him on campus as soon as possible and that looks like it has sunk in with the receiver commit.
“I’m coming to Florida in January as an early enrollee,” Johnson said. “I am planning to take some visits though first. I plan to visit Auburn in June but I’m real solid to Florida.”
A lot of people have questioned how committed Johnson truly is to Florida, and while he says he’s solid to the Gators, the real telling point is that he’s out recruiting for the Orange and Blue.
“I’m recruiting Binjimen Victor pretty hard,” he said. “We are building a real crazy receiver class. It’s going to be scary and that’s what I tell Binjinem. I tell him that he can play beside me and win some national championship with us.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Johnson is a big time playmaker and he showed that on Friday night which makes keeping him in this class even more important. I think Florida is starting to shore up his commitment with every visit to Gainesville he takes.