Tulsa Offers Alto Athlete Keenen Johnson
It's not over yet for Alto universal athlete Keenen Johnson.
Tulsa got into Johnson's recruiting decision process Wednesday with a college football scholarship offer to the two-way senior. Alto's key player, who holds other offers from Louisiana-Lafayette and SMU, announced the news through his personal Twitter account.
The Golden Hurricane program appears to be trending up. With first-year head coach Phillip Montgomery, it jumped to a 6-6 record from last season's 2-10 finish and earned a bowl game bid for the first time since 2012.
That contest, the Independence Bowl against Virginia Tech on Dec. 26, will be accessible for Johnson. Alto is a two-hour drive from Shreveport, La.
Tulsa has four other standing offers for East Texas players, but the players either committed elsewhere of left the Golden Hurricane program off their short lists.
Johnson, at quarterback, finished his Alto career as one of the most productive players in East Texas this season.
He is still the area's leading rusher with 2,669 yards and 38 touchdowns on 217 carries despite Alto's season ending in the second round of the playoffs. Remaining runners alive in the playoffs have already had two additional playoff games to reel Johnson in. It appears Mineola quarterback Jeremiah Crawford will finally catch him Friday if he hits his own postseason average of more than 200 yards per game.
In addition to leading East Texas in rushing yardage, Johnson cracked the ETSN.fm Interceptions Leader Board with three picks through 12 games. He had more interceptions on defense than he threw as quarterback, two picks on 98 attempts.
The athlete also recorded 42 tackles, three tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and eight pass breakups.
Alto finished its season with an 11-1 record and reached the Class 2A Division I area round before being taken down by Beckville in a mild upset.
Johnson helped guide the team to a Class 2A Division I regional championship appearance as a junior and finished 20 yards short of winning the regional leading rusher title. But, just like this season, he did win the regular season title and was named the ETSN.fm Offensive Newcomer of the Year.
The player that beat Johnson played in two more games that season.
Johnson, like all senior high school football players, will become eligible to sign with any program that offers him on Feb. 3.
2016 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers
- Austin Anderson, OL, Mineola, 6-4, 289 – committed to Texas A&M; additional offers from Arizona State, Arkansas State, Auburn, California, Cincinnati, Houston, Illinois, Kansas State, Louisiana Tech, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, North Carolina, North Texas, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, SMU, Southern Miss, TCU, Texas, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulsa, Vanderbilt (27)
- Riley Anderson, OL, Mineola, 6-5, 287 – committed to Texas A&M; additional offers from Arizona State, Arkansas State, Auburn, California, Cincinnati, Houston, Illinois, Kansas State, Louisiana Tech, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, North Carolina, North Texas, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, SMU, Southern Miss, Texas, TCU, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulsa, Vanderbilt (27)
- Demarco Boyd, RB/LB, Gilmer, 6-0, 215 — signed with Texas; additional offers from Baylor, Florida State, Texas A&M (4)
- Gabe Foster, RB/DB, Newton, 6-3, 180 — offers from Arkansas State, Purdue, Texas State, ULL, ULM (5)
- Ke’Mon Freeman, QB/ATH, Liberty-Eylau, 5-11, 188 – offers from Arkansas State, North Texas, SMU (3)
- Travon Fuller, CB, Athens, 6-0, 160 — committed to Texas A&M (1)
- Alex Gregory, WR, Nacogdoches, 5-11, 175 — committed to Stephen F. Austin; additional offers from Texas State, ULM (2)
- Zach Hall, ATH, Tyler Lee, 5-11, 170 – offers from Baylor, Missouri, Texas Tech (3)
- La’Darius Hamilton, LB, Corrigan-Camden, 6-1, 220 — offers from Texas State, ULL (2)
- Adrian Harris, OL, John Tyler, 6-2, 290 — offer from ULM (1)
- Tanner Holmes, LB, Newton, 6-3, 220 — committed to ULL (1)
- Jerrod Johnson, OL, Lufkin, 6-2, 290 — offer from ULM (1)
- Keenen Johnson, ATH, Alto, 6-1, 190 – offers from SMU, Tulsa, ULL (3)
- Brandon Jones, S, Nacogdoches, 6-0, 190 — offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Boise State, California, Florida State, Georgia, Houston, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, SMU, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulsa, UCLA, USC, Washington State (40)
- Braylon Jones, DT, John Tyler, 6-3, 285 – committed to Houston; additional offers from Air Force, Army, Colorado State, Navy (5)
- Corey Lane, S, 5-11, 185 – offer from Louisiana Tech (1)
- Bronson Massie, DE/LB, Lufkin 6-3, 202 – offers from California, Colorado State, Kansas State, Louisiana Tech, Texas State, Washington (6)
- Jarrod McLin, DE, Carthage, 6-4, 212 – committed to UTSA; additional offer from ULL (2)
- Denzel Mims, WR, Daingerfield, 6-4, 180 – committed to Baylor; additional offers from Arkansas State, North Texas, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulsa (6)
- Cody Mitchell, TE, Jasper, 6-5, 225 — committed to ULL; additional offers from Illinois, Louisiana Tech, Missouri, Texas State, (5)
- Jordan Morales, DL, Tyler Bishop Gorman, 6-3, 275 – offer from UTEP (1)
- Reshawn Parker, RB, Hooks, 6-1, 210 -- offer from Oklahoma State (1)
- Kendrick Rogers, WR, Frankston, 6-6, 207 — committed to Texas A&M; additional offers from Arkansas State, Cincinnati, Houston, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Mississippi State, North Texas, SMU, ULL, ULM (11)
- Micahh Smith, DB, Marshall, 5-11, 185 — offer from Texas State (1)
- Aphonso Thomas, RB, Van, 5-10, 180 — committed to SMU; additional offers from Colorado State, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, SMU, Texas State (6)
- Jeremy West, OL/DL, Chapel Hill, 6-2, 297 — committed to Northwestern State; additional offer from ULL (1)
- Andre Wiley Jr., OLB/S, Liberty-Eylau, 5-10, 170 – offers from Arkansas State, Army, Louisiana Tech, Navy, Texas State, Wyoming (6)
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