Iowa Football Recruiting: Hawkeyes Beat Notre Dame for Commitment from 4-Star Indiana DB DJ Johnson

A couple of weeks ago, we updated you on the status of perhaps the number one priority for the Iowa Hawkeyes coaching staff at this point in the recruiting cycle for the class of 2018: Indianapolis defensive back DJ Johnson. You’ll recall from that update that Johnson had narrowed his list to Iowa and Notre Dame and set his announcement date as August 22. That date was important for Johnson as it’s his mother’s birthday. Today, he held true to his promise and made his announcement.

With his commitment, Johnson becomes the second Indianapolis native to join the class of 2018, along with WR commit Tyrone Tracy. The North Central HS product is the highest rated commitment to-date. He comes in as a consensus 4-star prospect and the 4th rated recruit in the state of Indiana. The 247 Sports composite rankings place him 31st overall among CBs.

The 6’ 170 lb Johnson chose the Hawkeyes over offers from a slew of power 5 schools, including the aforementioned Notre Dame, Minnesota, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Syracuse, Duke and a number of others. He was recruited to Iowa by Kelvin Bell, who is the recruiting coordinator in addition to serving as defensive line coach. Bell has been making serious in-roads in the state of Indiana. In addition to Johnson and Tyrone Tracy, Bell has already reeled in class of 2019 DB Larry Tracy and is in on a number of other highly sought after recruits in both 2018 and 2019.

Here’s what I had to say about Johnson’s skills in my latest update:

He shows really solid technique and the athleticism to recover from almost any mistake he might make at the high school level. His instincts put him in a really good position to make plays on the ball and his speed and agility allow him to make things happen when he gets the ball in his hands.

The addition of Johnson brings Iowa’s class of 2018 to 12 commitments. Johnson is the second defensive back, joining Pennsylvania native Terry Roberts. As we’ve been telling you, Johnson is one of a pair of big time Indianapolis-area DBs the Hawkeyes have at the top of their proverbial big board for this class. He’s close with Julius Brents, who was at one time thought to be waiting on a commitment, then announced last week he would be making a decision sooner than expected. Hawkeye fans should keep an eye on that situation.

Here’s a look at where things stand with the class of 2018 from a positional standpoint:

Here’s the entire commitment list in the class of 2018:

Welcome aboard DJ Johnson!