Maryland transfer Lavon Johnson signs with Texas hours after signing with North Carolina

On Friday, Maryland transfer defensive lineman Lavon Johnson signed a contract with North Carolina. However, later in the day, Johnson signed with Texas instead, per On3’s Pete Nakos.

Johnson spent two seasons at Maryland. In the 2024 campaign, he tallied 14 tackles. In his true freshman season, he recorded five tackles.

Johnson played high school football at Allentown Central Catholic (2020-21) and Cheshire Academy (2022), where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 1,303 overall player and No. 134 defensive lineman in the 2023 recruiting cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

For his efforts at the high school level, Lavon Johnson was a two-time Morning Call EPC Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time Class 4A First-Team All-State selection. He was a First-Team All-Conference selection in 2022, as well.

Johnson was recruited by Texas, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Mississippi State and Rutgers in the NCAA Transfer Portal. He is the sixth player Texas has added via the transfer portal this offseason.

In comparison, Texas has lost 15 players to the transfer portal this offseason. The Longhorns have the No. 28 transfer class in the country, according to On3’s 2025 Team Transfer Portal Rankings.

Texas is coming off a jaw-dropping 13-3 season, in which it reached the College Football Playoff semifinals for the second consecutive season. Texas will look to take a leap and reach the National Championship this season, but it won’t be easy.

The Longhorns will kick off their season with a showdown against defending champion Ohio State. In March, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian weighed in on the challenging season opener.

“I love this opportunity,” Sarkisian said via The Herd. “I think it’s great for our players in summer workouts and training camp to know who we’re getting ready to go play and the task at hand. I think now with the expanded playoffs, as long as we don’t punish those teams for going to play those games then it’s great for college football. 

“It’s opening weekend, it’s Texas and Ohio State. It’s a rematch of the semifinal game of last year’s playoffs. It’s great for their program, great for our program. That’s what the players we recruit, that’s the games they want to play in. They want to be in those big-time games.”

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.