Bear Down Wildcats

Johnson is a 6-2, 211, redshirt Junior wide receiver from Phoenix College, James Madison University, Cienega HS, Tucson, AZ. Coach Sumlin does not tout his walk-ons like Rich Rod did, but thanks to Javier Morales, All Sports Tucson, we know about this local football star who is returning to the field after trying college basketball:

Former Cienega High School standout Terrence Johnson, who played basketball at Phoenix South Mountain Community College and James Madison the last two years, has decided to transfer to Arizona as a walk-on to the football team as a wide receiver.

Johnson, one of the best athletes to come out of Tucson in recent years, was offered a scholarship to play football out of Cienega by former coach Rich Rodriguez but opted to pursue a career in basketball.

As a senior at Cienega in the 2014 season, Johnson, 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, caught 43 passes for 557 yards with five touchdowns. He also had five interceptions and registered 91 tackles as a defensive back that season.

Johnson was a third-team junior college All-American at Phoenix College in 2015-16, averaging 19.3 points and 6.2 rebounds a game. He transferred to James Madison as a sophomore. He appeared in 16 games for the Dukes in 2016-17, averaging 1.4 points and 1.1 rebounds per game in a little less than 10 minutes of action per game.

He left James Madison in April last year and has resided in Tucson since, training his body back to football. Rodriguez welcomed him as a walk-on after last season. After Rodriguez was fired, Johnson remained with the team and Kevin Sumlin and saw limited action in the spring football game.

Johnson will likely have three years of eligibility remaining in football.

35.3 is the Wildcat record for yards gained per pass set by Eddie Wilson against Colorado St in 1961 when he threw 6 passes for 212 yards. Last year, Khalil Tate's highest average was 27.5 yards/pass when he completed 10 passes for 275 yards against Washington St.

One of my son's old teammates. I didn't even realize he was back playing football.

Very athletic. I believe his dad played some professional basketball in Europe.


Here's an article from the Star when he was coming out of high school:

https://tucson.com/sports/cienega-s-joh ... 5d4b9.html


The rundown: Terrence Johnson, WR/SS, 6-3, 190, Cienega, senior

Who he is: Johnson fits the mold of what coaches want from a safety. He’s big, has been clocked at 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash and sets the tone for an entire defense with thunderous hits. After a summer of playing basketball, the two-sport star has transitioned from the non-stop, change-of-pace movement in hoops, to more sprints and weight training needed for the gridiron season. Cienega coach Nemer Hassey remembers meeting Johnson at a football camp when he was an eighth-grader in the Vail School District. Although Johnson had played football since age 9, he wasn’t playing at the time, but Hassey noticed his natural athleticism and knew he had potential. Johnson’s speed makes him a threat to score any time he touches the ball. Last season, he wasn’t the main option on offense but scored four TDs, all of which were at least 33 yards and as long as 69. Cienega quarterback Adriell Alvarado said Johnson’s large frame gives him a much bigger window, and his athleticism allows him to get the football, wherever it is. This season, Hassey will move Johnson from running back to slot to the outside receiver. Meanwhile, Johnson said he hopes to be more of a ballhawk at safety. Entering his third season on varsity and second as a starter, Johnson has been working on his route running in order to make more catches than the 17 he had in 2013 as the second option behind Christian Poe, now a freshman at Army.

Proof he’s good: The attention. Johnson has received scholarship offers from the UA, San Diego State, UC-Davis and Montana. He also has sparked interest from Stanford, Oregon State and UCLA. As a guard on the Cienega basketball team, Johnson averaged 13.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game on a team that reached the state semifinals. Though Johnson has always had basketball to hold onto, he kept working at football. During his sophomore season he played sparingly at safety. Toward the end of the season, coaches put Johnson in at safety for three plays against Douglas and realized what he was capable of doing. He also displayed another capability when he once threw a football 60 yards in practice.

He said it: “Believe it or not, he can throw the football, too. He can play quarterback if he wanted to. He’s a kid you throw it to, hand it to, you want to get him the ball every way you can get him the ball, and be creative with it. He’s explosive, he’s fast, he’s big, he’s tall. He’s a Pac-12 football prospect.” — Hassey

Maybe Sumlin will let him walk onto the basketball team if Miller needs some bodies.

I recall Tomey let Ortege Jenkins and Peter Hansen play for Lute.

Football roster was update yesterday!


Johnson was already covered on day 34.

32 is Art Luppino's school record for points scored in a game set against New Mexico St. in 1954. If 32 points is not impressive enough, he scored his 5 TDs on 8 touches of the ball (6 carries and 2 kickoff returns).