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'13 PA OT Dorian Johnson (Pitt Verbal)

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247 - Battleground Recruits: East

11/1

1. Dorian Johnson, OT, Belle Vernon (Pa.)



There is not a more important recruit for Pittsburgh in the 2013 class than five-star tackle Dorian Johnson. The 6-foot-6, 270-pounder with terrific feet and athleticism has been long thought to end up inside the Pennsylvania state lines, but Ohio State is making a serious run at the Under Armour All-America selection.
National Analyst Steve Wiltfong on Johnson?s recruitment: 

?Pittsburgh is ahead in the polls, however Ohio State is trending upward with Johnson since he took his second visit to Columbus for the Nebraska game on Oct. 6. The Buckeyes will get another opportunity to gain ground and perhaps surge into the lead when Johnson takes his official visit to Ohio State over Thanksgiving weekend for the Michigan game. The Panthers had Johnson on campus for the upset victory over Virginia Tech and he plans to get back in the next couple weeks. Pitt?s been in the pole position for Johnson before but then he committed to Penn State. Now that Johnson is back in the market, the Panther faithful hopes the same thing doesn?t happen again.?
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One of the most important recruits left for Ohio State this season. I think he and Mike Mitchell are the most needed going into next season. I'd love to have Vonn Bell also but if he doesnt come north, we could get by. Super thin in the other areas though to miss out on Johnson and Mitchell.
 
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Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Gorman: ?You can?t let things go to your head?

11/2

This wasn?t how college football fans envisioned Robert Foster and Dorian Johnson sharing the same field.

They might have imagined seeing Central Valley?s Foster, ranked the nation?s top receiver prospect by Scout.com, and Belle Vernon?s Johnson, the nation?s No. 2 offensive tackle prospect by ESPN?s Scouts Inc., in Pitt?s blue and gold or Ohio State?s scarlet and gray or Alabama?s crimson and white.

This wasn?t a night for those dreaming of watching Foster and Johnson play for the same team. Instead, they were opponents in a WPIAL Class AAA first-round playoff game.

And only one of them played.

?I?m not sitting out for no reason,? Foster said. ?I?m sitting out for a reason: I?m learning from my mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes, and I made mine.?

A week ago, while Johnson was recovering a fumble in the end zone for his first-ever touchdown in a victory over Albert Gallatin, Foster was being ejected from a loss to Beaver Falls after drawing two personal-foul penalties. Under PIAA rules, Foster is automatically suspended for the following game, meaning a loss would make this his last game.

?It?s tough, but you learn from your mistakes,? Foster said. ?I was wrong for what I did. I apologized to my teammates and everyone else that supported me. But I believe in my team and my coaches that they will do what they have to to win the game.?

Not only would Central Valley have to beat Belle Vernon minus Foster but also without injured quarterback Nate Climo and tailback Jordan Whitehead.

So Foster and Johnson were essentially in the same situation, knowing the fate of their high school careers was not in their hands but those of teammates.

Despite Johnson?s dominant play on both sides of the ball ? not to mention Foster?s absence ? Central Valley rallied for a 17-16 win over Belle Vernon on Elliot Taylor?s 22-yard field goal with seven seconds left Friday.

Where Johnson could at least block and tackle, Foster could only watch from the sidelines.

?The ball is not in my hands, but I truly believe I have teammates that can make plays,? Foster said. ?Instead of people watching me, they can watch my teammates make plays. There?s no more coming to games to see me; it?s coming to see Central Valley. I?m not Central Valley. I?m just Robert Foster.

?I can?t do things on the field if it wasn?t for my teammates. That is one of the best lessons I?ve learned: Don?t let things go to your head, obviously. When you?re someone special with God-given talent, you can?t let things go to your head. You?ve got to let it go in one ear and out the other.?

Sounds like someone who has already let things go to his head. Which is easy to do when colleges covet your services as a recruit and recruiting services covet breaking your commitment to a college.

It?s the Catch-22 of prep football. We watch relative unknowns develop into major-college prospects only to see them become overwhelmed by overexposure during the recruiting process.

Where Foster led Central Valley to a WPIAL title as a sophomore and has more than 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns rushing and receiving combined this season, Johnson generated attention with his 6-foot-6, 285-pound frame and athleticism.

?He?s scary,? Central Valley coach Mark Lyons said. ?We?ve probably never faced an offensive lineman with that capability of wiping out a side of a line.

?Everything everybody is writing about him and why they?re recruiting him, it?s pretty accurate. To find another high school defender to neutralize him, it?s not fair. I look at it as you?re asking a defensive back to play Foster one-on-one.?

Belle Vernon coach Aaron Krepps believes the oversaturation of recruiting coverage and social media has made players household names before they are mature enough to deal with the pressure.

?These are still young kids,? Krepps said. ?It becomes a burden. It?s not something they should have to deal with in the sheer volume they have to.?

Foster learned another lesson Thursday, after revealing on Twitter that he was ready to announce his college choice. When word spread within minutes, he retracted the statement and said he would wait.

?The biggest thing he has to understand is, everybody is watching you,? Lyons said. ?Whether they?re watching for the good things or if they?re jealous and they?re waiting to nail you, that?s what he had to learn. Kids don?t always look at it like that. They?re like, ?You mean, somebody wants me to fail?? Yeah, they do.?

Johnson shies away from the spotlight for that reason.

?It is pretty nerve-wracking knowing you have people coming to watch you,? Johnson said. ?You don?t want to mess up.?

Especially with your high school career hanging in the balance.
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will also unofficially visit for the game....plans to make decision mid- Dec.

Dorian Johnson sets two official visits
November, 6, 2012
By Jared Shanker | ESPN.com

One of the top remaining targets for Ohio State and Pittsburgh has set official visits to both schools.

ESPN 150 offensive tackle Dorian Johnson (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) will officially visit Pitt the weekend of Nov. 16. His official visit to Ohio State will take place the weekend of Dec. 7, he told ESPN.com in a text message.

cont...
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http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/colleges/osu/post?id=4670
 
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If he leaves his Pitt official without committing [and you know they are going to push hard], then OSU becomes the favorite. The fact that he has expressed interest in seeing the OSU/UM game and spending more time with the OSU recruits leads me to believe that he will go through with his proposed timeline, and if he does, I REALLY like OSU's chances of wrapping this up during his official visit in December.
 
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wadc45;2251300; said:
If he leaves his Pitt official without committing [and you know they are going to push hard], then OSU becomes the favorite. The fact that he has expressed interest in seeing the OSU/UM game and spending more time with the OSU recruits leads me to believe that he will go through with his proposed timeline, and if he does, I REALLY like OSU's chances of wrapping this up during his official visit in December.
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This mirrors my thinking. I'm hopeful but not getting excited. Yet.
 
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wadc45;2251300; said:
If he leaves his Pitt official without committing [and you know they are going to push hard], then OSU becomes the favorite. The fact that he has expressed interest in seeing the OSU/UM game and spending more time with the OSU recruits leads me to believe that he will go through with his proposed timeline, and if he does, I REALLY like OSU's chances of wrapping this up during his official visit in December.
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That's great. Right now, I think our offensive line has some great talent, but we have very little depth. If we can add a guy like Dorian Johnson and pull one more, like a David Dawson....Woah!
 
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southcampus;2251335; said:
That's great. Right now, I think our offensive line has some great talent, but we have very little depth. If we can add a guy like Dorian Johnson and pull one more, like a David Dawson....Woah!
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Both will be tough pulls but with Urban and how hot we are right now, I like our chances to at least get 1. Dawson would be great because he would make up for Kalis (both in revenge and in talent, Dawson is crazy talented). Johnson would fulfill a HUGE need...I feel good about the future with Decker, Dodson, Lisle, and then Dorian.

But if we pull this off, huge hats off to Urban and the staff...we have trailed on this one for a long time and it appears we are about to pull ahead if we haven't already. As an aside, if we somehow manage D. Johnson and Mitchell, the rest of the potential class is just icing.
 
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BVA?s Johnson scaling back recruiting second time around
By Jeff Oliver
Published: Thursday, November 8, 2012

The first time around, Dorian Johnson enjoyed all the attention he got from colleges early on during the recruiting process.

But as the interest and competition picked up, the experience became less fun and more a distraction for Belle Vernon Area?s 6-6, 290-pound tackle.

He committed early to Penn State, hoping to put an end to the process so he could concentrate on his senior season at BVA. However, he decommited just before the season began after NCAA sanctions were announced against the university in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky case.

When Johnson announced he was again back on the open market, he said he would delay all recruiting talk until after BVA?s season ended.

The Leps? campaign came to a heartbreaking finish last week with a 17-16 loss to Central Valley in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs.

True to his word, Johnson did not talk about recruiting during the season so as not to be distracted.

Now, he is getting back into it.

Only this time, he is using knowledge gained from the first experience.

?I think I?m going to do it a little differently, be a little more laid back and only deal with the schools I?m really interested in,? Johnson said.

Those schools are Pitt, Ohio State and Virginia Tech.

Johnson has scheduled recruiting visits to Pitt (Nov. 16) and Ohio State (Dec. 7).

While he has yet to schedule a visit to Virginia Tech, he said he will do so once he talks with the Hokies? coaches.

Although he is not close to making a final decision, Johnson admitted Pitt is the leading candidate among the three.

?I would say right now it?s Pitt, Ohio State, then Virginia Tech,? he said.

It certainly doesn?t hurt the Panthers? chances that Pitt?s offensive coordinator is Joe Rudolph, a BVA graduate and a standout lineman when he played there.

Looking back on his senior season, Johnson admitted that while the year didn?t go like he had hoped, it was a good experience.

?I wanted us to do better, but I was really happy with how we played our last game (against Central Valley),? he said. ?We finally came together as a team and played hard together. Overall, I had fun with the season.?
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Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/hssports...a-ohio-tech-virginia-experience#ixzz2BdWg4yKH
 
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