At times, Joseph Johnson felt like his recruiting process had almost morphed into a drawn-out shopping trip for a used car. School after school approached him, only to leave him feeling as though they were trying to sell him something.

That didn’t sit right with the Chester, Va., native. But a trip to Penn State showed him that not every staff approached recruiting with a salesman’s mindset.

“To be honest, that first visit, I didn’t want to leave,” Johnson said in an interview last week, before he enrolled at Penn State this past weekend. “I told my mom I didn’t want to come home. It felt like home to me. They treated me like family. There were never any awkward moments.

“It was a great atmosphere up there. So why not? Why not Penn State?”

In Johnson, Penn State has added a three-star cornerback and the 10th-ranked player in Virginia. He chose the Nittany Lions over 17 other schools that offered, including Florida, Florida State, Indiana, N.C. State, Ohio State, Tennessee and Pitt.

Listed at 6-foot-2, 170 pounds, Johnson previously announced last March that he would be signing with N.C. State, but his commitment didn’t last long. He reopened his recruitment in May and, after a second visit to Penn State the following month, gave James Franklin and staff his verbal pledge in early July.

“They didn’t really try to push an agenda on me. They didn’t really try to force anything on me,” Johnson remembered. “They just tried to show me what the school was about. I just fell in love with it, and it just took off from there.”

A connection with an emerging Penn State linebacker, rising junior Ellis Brooks, also contributed to Johnson’s decision. Brooks, too, is from Virginia, and he and Johnson spent time working out together during Brooks’ senior year of high school before leaving for University Park.

Thanks to those workouts, Brooks and Johnson became close. And while Brooks was in Johnson’s ear throughout the recruiting process, just like Penn State’s coaching staff, he wasn’t applying any pressure.

“He never really tried to force me to come,” Johnson said. “He was saying the same things the coaches say, go where you feel is the best place for you.”

Johnson helped Life Christian Academy, which started its football program in 2018, to a 4-6 record in his senior season.

On the field, Johnson described himself as a team player. He strives to be coachable, and he also developed a knack for leadership over the course of his high school career. Some of that came naturally, he said.

But Johnson has also had to work for it, keeping a close eye on some of his mentors in life to pick up techniques and tricks that he can use to improve his own leadership abilities.

“I’m a hard worker on the field,” he said. “I’m a dog. I’m a leader. I’m going to try my hardest and I’m going to try to get my teammates to try their hardest.”

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