I mentioned to be on the lookout for it and now it has happened. Miami freshman defensive end/defensive lineman DJ Johnson has decided to transfer to play closer to home. He is the younger brother of current Arizona signee PJ Johnson and Arizona is very much going to be in play here. Johnson was recruited by Vince Amey and built a strong relationship with Arizona before he eventually picked Miami.
Arizona has one of its biggest recruiting tools already set to be on campus here soon with his brother and I wouldn't be shocked to see the Wildcats quickly emerge as the front runner for him. I mentioned previously that the brothers are close and the younger Johnson has already followed the entire Arizona defensive staff on Twitter and gotten the ball rolling. There will be other schools that try to get him, but expect Arizona to be a big player for the one-time four-star Rivals250 defensive end who was rated No. 7 at his position in the 2017 class.
The family wants him to play closer to home and having both boys at Arizona would make a lot of sense.
He played in seven games this year coming up with three tackles as a reserve defensive lineman. He still has his redshirt season available so he would not use up any of his eligibility with the transfer, but with how much the family hardship is coming up right now I wonder if there will be a way to get him eligible right away considering he wasn't used all that much this season.
It will be interesting but Arizona is the program that has the advantage right now.
UPDATE
Arizona is one of eight schools that has been granted permission to speak with Johnson as he looks to transfer. All the schools are in the Pac-12 with Arizona State, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC and Washington
