BREAKING: Texas A&M RB transfer LJ Johnson commits to SMU
Texas A&M running back LJ Johnson committed to SMU, he announced on Twitter on Christmas. He’ll have three years of eligibility remaining and took official visits to SMU and UCLA.
In 2022, Johnson notched 10 carries for 39 yards and two touchdowns in six games. In 2021, he added 21 carries for 76 yards in four games.
Johnson played in four games in his redshirt season in 2021. He has served as a reserve running back this fall.
He finished his impressive high school career with 4,353 rushing yards, 77 rushing touchdowns, 421 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns. As a senior, he was named District 17-6A Offensive MVP, finishing with 1,262 yards on the ground with 20 touchdowns rushing. He added 255 yards through the air and three receiving touchdowns.
LJ Johnson played high school football at Cypress (Texas) Cy-Fair, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 57 overall recruit and No. 5 running back in the 2021 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
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SMU adding plenty of transfer talent
Johnson joins Liberty transfer linebacker Ahmad Walker, Fresno State transfer defensive back Cale Sanders, Missouri transfer offensive lineman Hyrin White, Miami transfers Key’Shawn Smith, Jordan Miller, Elijah Roberts, Jaylan Knighton, West Virginia transfer defensive back Charles Woods and Stanford defensive back Jonathan McGill as transfer commits for SMU.
Head coach Rhett Lashlee and his staff balanced preparing for the New Mexico Bowl with transfer recruiting. SMU fell to 7-6 with the 24-23 loss to BYU to cap its season, but has roared back with transfer recruiting momentum.
“It’s been crazy, it’s been exactly that crazy,” offensive coordinator Casey Woods said before the bowl game. “I think the NCAA did a good thing, we had that four-day dead period window that allowed us to touch base with our players, get ourselves prepared for the portal to open. Once it went to contact period on the 5th, it’s been a crazy 12 days. Obviously, losing our official visit weekend this weekend, we kind of had to use that Monday, Tuesday. I’ve never done back-to-back official visits where we had nine and nine, or whatever it is we had. We ended up with, I think, 20 guys through here the last four days.”
