Tag: James Johnson

Blue-chip 2026 DL has Florida among top schools after recent visit

Florida’s Grill in the Ville event last weekend really opened the eyes of this four-star defensive lineman out of North Ft. Myers.

Florida football hosted its annual Grill in the Ville recruiting event last Saturday and the results coming out of the weekend have been impressive for [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and his staff. Thanks to their red-carpet efforts, the Gators have gained a lot of ground in the next two recruiting classes.

Among the many visitors was four-star defensive lineman [autotag]James Johnson[/autotag] out of North Fort Myers (Florida) in the 2026 cycle. The 6-foot-2-inch, 260-pound trench warrior has been rising in the recruiting rankings of late, as all four major scouting publications had no data on him before the cookout event in Gainesville.

Now, having visited campus several times prior and with his latest stop in the Swamp under his belt, Johnson has the Orange and Blue high on his top schools list early on in his courtship with top institutions.

Johnson on Grill in the Ville visit

“Experiencing it, we did the scavenger hunt, and I really enjoyed that. Bonding with some people there that could be my future teammates,” Johnson told Swamp247.

“I got to bond with the coaches. Speak with Coach (Gerald) Chatman and coach (Luis Mcleod). I got to spend some time with Coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] too. I just enjoyed it.”

Florida’s message to Johnson

“Their message was really just how they are trying to get me to be a Gator,” he said of the coaches. “That was really it for them. I liked getting around Coach Napier.”

As part of a series of ice-breaker events, the Gators had a handful of competitions for the visitors to participate in, which helped Johnson feel a connection with Florida’s HC.

“One of the competitions was a rap battle, and he watched us do it. We had a part in the rap that we talked about him and we thought it was funny. I talked with him while we were eating, and it was good.”

He has also nurtured a relationship with defensive line coach Gerald Chatman over time.

“Coach Chatman knows a lot about the game, and I feel like he’s one of those people who can help me get to the next level. I worked out with him in June, and the things he taught me, I think he can make me one of the top players in the SEC.”

What Johnson likes about the Gators

“I really like their facility, it’s really nice. I like all the things inside of it like the recovery room. It’s all really nice in there, with things like the cryotherapy room.”

But more than the infrastructure, Johnson is about the people who comprise the UF program.

“All that is nice, but I really like the coaches there more. I like spending time with them and talking with them. I feel like they can help me be better.”

Johnson’s top schools

“I would say my top schools right now are Florida, Miami, and Syracuse. I really like UCF too, so you can throw them in there too. With Florida, they are one of the teams that is up there.”

Speaking of Florida and Miami, Johnson plans to stop in the Swamp for the season opener and the Gators’ game against the Texas A&M Aggies later in the schedule.

“I am going to be back for the Florida game against Miami, and then I am going to be at the Florida game against Texas A&M too.”

Recruiting Summary

Johnson is rated at four stars ranked No. 196 overall and No. 22 at his position nationally according to 247Sports while the On3 industry ranking rates him at three stars and ranks him at Nos. 360 and 35, respectively.

On3’s recruiting prediction machine has Florida on top with a 39.9% chance of signing him early on, followed by the South Florida Bulls (12.4%), Miami (10.6%) and Central Florida Knights (8.9%).

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Florida football’s Grill in the Ville event visitor’s list

Here’s a look at many of the names expected to be in Gainesville on Saturday for Grill in the Ville.

Florida football’s annual summer recruiting event, Grill in the Ville, is set to kick off on Saturday with a plethora of prep prospects from the 2025 and 2025 classes set to arrive in Gainesville.

The function offers an opportunity to spend more time around the coaches and staff while also getting some personal time in a more casual setting in comparison to a typical unofficial visit.

Among the uncommitted names from the 2025 cycle expected to be in attendance are four-star linebacker [autotag]Ty Jackson[/autotag], three-star [autotag]Derry Norris[/autotag], three-star defensive lineman [autotag]Jarquez Carter[/autotag], defensive lineman [autotag]Joseph Mbatchou[/autotag], three-star wide receiver [autotag]Naeshaun Montgomer[/autotag]y. Defensive linemen [autotag]Zavion Hardy[/autotag] and [autotag]Rashod Bradley[/autotag] represent a pair of JUCO prospects who will also be present.

The Gators are also expected to host a handful of 2025 commitments, including four-star [autotag]Vernell Brown III[/autotag], four-star [autotag]Waltez Clark[/autotag], four-star [autotag]Jalen Wiggins[/autotag], four-star [autotag]Myles Johnson[/autotag], three-star [autotag]Chad Gasper[/autotag], three-star [autotag]Tae’shaun Gelsey[/autotag] and three-star [autotag]Jeramiah McCloud[/autotag].

Targets for the 2026 cycle who have submitted an RSVP are tight end [autotag]JC Anderson[/autotag], tight end [autotag]Camden Jensen[/autotag], tight end [autotag]Landen Miree[/autotag], offensive lineman Samuel Roseborough, offensive lineman [autotag]Parker Pritchett[/autotag], offensive lineman [autotag]Chancellor Barclay[/autotag], offensive lineman [autotag]Chancellor Campbell[/autotag], defensive lineman [autotag]Kendall Guervil[/autotag], defensive lineman [autotag]James Johnson[/autotag], safety [autotag]Demetres Samuel[/autotag], defensive back [autotag]J’Zavien Currence[/autotag], defensive back [autotag]Jorden Edmonds[/autotag] and athlete [autotag]Devonte Anderson[/autotag].

One of Florida’s two current commitments in the 2026 class, four-star defensive back [autotag]Jaelen Waters[/autotag], is also expected to be present.

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LSU offers 2025 wide receiver from Douglasville, Georgia

Brian Kelly offered a 3-star 2025 wide receiver from Douglasville, Georgia.

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] and his recruiting staff have made a trip to Georgia to offer a talented wide receiver in the 2025 recruiting class.

[autotag]James Johnson[/autotag] is a 6-foot, 175-pound, three-star wide receiver from Douglasville, Georgia, where he plays for Douglas County High School. The Douglas County Tigers finished the 2023 season with a 13-1 record as they lost to Woodward Academy in the 6A state semifinals.

There are currently no Crystal Ball projections for Johnson at this time but the Duke Blue Devils are a 37% favorite to land him per On3.

Film Analysis: Johnson can fly and has great ball awareness that allows him to make incredible plays.

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Ohio State offers 2025 Georgia wide receiver

The Buckeyes offer the impressive junior. #GoBucks

Ohio State football has been on a hot streak in recruiting, and it doesn’t want the good times to end.

The Buckeye staff is focusing in on the 2025 class, and one of its top targets was given an offer on Tuesday, wide receiver [autotag]James Johnson[/autotag]. The 6-foot, 175-pound Georgian isn’t ranked currently, but looking at his offer list, he will be soon.

Multiple SEC schools have already pulled the trigger, and now Ohio State has entered the mix. The Buckeyes have had a good amount of success recruiting the Peach Tree state, and it looks like they are trying to continue that trend.

Johnson is coming off an impressive junior campaign, where he accounted for 1,494 yards combined receiving and rushing yards, while scoring 29 touchdowns. It’s the kind of production that teams will take notice of, which Ohio State clearly has.

The Buckeyes are off to another impressive start in its 2025 class, already with six commits, most of them being among the top players in the nation.

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The remaining active NBA players from each draft class between 2003 and 2010

It is truly remarkable that LeBron is still playing as well as he does.

With each passing season, more and more players in the previous generation of the NBA are graduating into retirement.

Some of the most recognizable and dominant players of a beloved era (e.g. Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, etc.) have recently ended their professional playing careers.

As the league begins to look increasingly different every year, we decided to look at which players drafted before 2011 are still active in the league. There are only 30 players who fit those qualifications and only 19 have started more than one game this season.

Here is a look at each NBA draft class and who remains active years later.

All data is provided via Stathead and is accurate as of publishing.

Ranking the 21 players who have played for the most (at least 10!) NBA teams

Ish Smith has now suited up for nearly half the teams in the league. Who else comes close?

There is something special about a journeyman who has experience playing for various different franchises during their NBA careers.

As of the time of publishing this article, there are 21 players who played at least one game for at least 10 different teams around the league. While many are former undrafted free agents who scrapped and clawed their way around to stay pros, others were former top picks.

Joe Smith (No. 1 overall pick in 1995), Jim Jackson (No. 4 pick in 1992), Jeff Green (No. 5 pick in 2007) and D.J. Augustin (No. 9 pick in 2008) were lottery picks before bouncing around from team to team.

One reason for this is that you have to be pretty good to convince so many teams that you are worth an NBA contract.

So we took a look at the players who have played for the most teams while in the NBA. Feel free to use this as a resource next time you are having trouble guessing a player for Immaculate Grid.

Note that some active players who could potentially make this list in the future if they keep signing with new teams in the NBA include Justin Holiday, Robin Lopez, Jae Crowder, Seth Curry, George Hill, JaVale McGee, Markieff Morris and Noah Vonleh.

The pie charts provided below indicate how many games each player played with each team so you can track longevity.

All data is available via Basketball-Reference and NBA.com.

Brooklyn Nets player grades: Kevin Durant scores 41 in win vs. Pistons

The Brooklyn Nets won 130-123 against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. How does each player grade for their performance?

The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday with 130-123 being the final score. It was a needed bounce-back victory from their 119-110 loss to the Charlotte Hornets as they continue to compete for play-in positioning.

It was a slow start for the Nets in this game. They were outscored in each of the initial two quarters and trailed 64-58 at halftime against one of the NBA’s worst teams. Detroit even trailed by as many as 12 points at one point.

“Yeah, that’s something that we have to work on. We can’t hang our hat on a second half. We have to play a complete game, because it’s not always going to be that easy to make that turnaround against great teams,” Nets center Andre Drummond said. “Not that the Pistons aren’t a great team, they played a hell of a game. We just turned it up in that second half and we can’t play like that. We have to do that the whole game.”

Cade Cunningham did his best to carry the Pistons to a win scoring 29 of his 34 points in the second half. However, Detroit did not have enough left in the tank to take down one of the NBA’s more potent threats.

Kevin Durant led the way with 22 second-half points while the Nets as a team scored 72 points with staggering efficiency. Brooklyn went 21-34 (61.8 percent) from the floor, 9-14 (64.3 percent) on 3s, and 21-23 (91.3 percent) on free throws during this 24-minute stretch.

Here are the player grades following the win:

Brooklyn Nets player grades: Durant, Irving lead in rout vs. Heat

The Brooklyn Nets achieved a blowout win over the Miami Heat, who entered the matchup first in the East. How does each player grade?

On Saturday, the Brooklyn Nets took care of business in their road matchup against the Miami Heat by achieving a 110-95 win at FTX Arena in Miami, Florida.

It was a relatively slow start from the Nets in this game as they trailed 21-15 with 5:42 left in the first quarter. Brooklyn rallied to close the period using a 12-6 run and ultimately held a 27-25 lead at the end of the frame.

Things quickly changed as Brooklyn put up a game-high 40 points in the second period—resulting in a 19-point scoring differential. The Nets never looked back from that point on and actually led by as many as 37 points at one point in the second half.

The Nets improved to 9-3 in games played with both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in the lineup. Overall, they are now 39-35 on the season and hold the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference standings—trailing the Cleveland Cavaliers for seventh by two games.

The Nets played their first game since receiving the news that Kyrie Irving’s eligibility for home games has been restored. While this game was played on the road, there was still built-up excitement from the days leading into the actual game surrounding the team.

Here are the player grades following the win in Miami:

Brooklyn Nets player grades: Durant, Irving score 78 vs. Grizzlies

Brooklyn Nets superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving combined for 78 points against the Memphis Grizzlies. How does each player grade?

On Wednesday, the Brooklyn Nets came up short in their 132-120 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Kyrie Irving (43) and Kevin Durant (35) finished with a combined 78 points, but it wasn’t enough to get a win. Despite not having Ja Morant in the lineup, the Grizzlies put up 132 points while shooting 19-38 (50.0 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Grizzlies received strong individual scoring outings with Morant as Desmond Bane (23), DeAnthony Melton (23), and Dillon Brooks (21), all combined for 67 points. Memphis is now 15-2 in games played without Morant in the lineup.

“(The Grizzlies) are playing with freedom knowing (Morant) is not there, so a lot of guys are playing with a free mind and spirit,” Durant said. “You see, it’s translating into buckets.”

The Nets remain without Ben Simmons in the lineup as he recovers from a herniated disc. Before tipoff, there were developments about the New York City vaccine mandate change that restored Kyrie Irving’s eligibility for home games.

Here are the player grades after a loss to the Grizzlies:

Brooklyn Nets player grades: Kevin Durant drops 38 on Trail Blazers

The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 128-123. How does the performance for each of their rotation players grade?

The Brooklyn Nets bounced back from their Wednesday loss to the Dallas Mavericks with a 128-123 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. After trailing by as many as 18 points, the Nets managed to mount a second-half comeback in this one.

“Halftime, I was a little upset. We didn’t come to play, and we really played one half tonight. We’re just lucky it was enough to win the game,” Nash said.

Things changed in the second half and Kevin Durant’s 38 points overall on the night proved to be a real boost. He managed to overcome another team sending frequent double-teams his way. There were still struggles with turnovers, but overall, he was efficient.

Seth Curry made his return to the lineup after a three-game absence due to an ankle injury. He stepped right in and made a big difference with 27 points on seven makes from 3-point range. He finished with a team-high eight points in the fourth quarter.

Kyrie Irving did not participate in this game due to his continued ineligibility to play at Barclays Center. Ben Simmons remains sidelined as he continues to recover from back problems.

Here are the player grades after a comeback win over the Trail Blazers: