VC Grad James Johnson Ready For Sophomore Season At University Of Washington

Heading into his sophomore year at the University of Washington, Valley Center High School graduate James Johnson has plenty to be excited about this football season.
Johnson was named The Roadrunner’s Newsmaker of the Year in 2008 after a stellar senior season at VCHS, in which he caught 57 passes for 1,261 yards and 17 touchdowns. As a Jaguar, Johnson broke the CIF San Diego Section record for most receiving yards in a high school career with 2,930 in four years as a varsity starter.
In his first season with the Huskies, Johnson made 39 receptions for 422 yards and three touchdowns, including a 17-yard touchdown on his first collegiate reception. He also helped Washington to a thrilling 16-13 win over No. 3-ranked USC last season by hauling in seven catches for 72 yards, and was named to the All-Pac 10 Freshman team for his outstanding first season.
This year, Johnson says he learned a lot from his freshman season, and that it has helped him gain a deeper understanding of the game.
“I’ve learned a lot about the business aspect of the game,” he says. “What I mean by that is that I see the way the coaches constantly stress competition at each position to make everyone better. In college, everyone’s much more equal that way. And you have to have a lot more mental toughness at this level—a lot more than in high school.”
Along with the mental toughness, Johnson will need physical toughness to bounce back from an ankle injury that kept him out of preseason mini camps, and allowed him to return to practice only recently.
“I missed a couple of weeks; it was a pretty bad strain,” he says. “But I’m back at practice and getting back in the mix of things, trying to get back to one hundred percent.”
Even though he’s not sure he’ll be fully healed in time for this Saturday’s game at Brigham Young University (BYU), Johnson says he’s looking forward to how the team is coming together this season.
“I’m really excited about our team chemistry this year,” he says. “We have a real sense of camaraderie that’s better than it was last year. We only won five games last season, but I can tell we’re going to win a lot more than that this year.”
One reason the Huskies are looking so good heading into the season is senior quarterback Jake Locker, who threw for 2,800 yards and 21 touchdowns last season, and is an extremely likely candidate to become the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NFL draft.
“It’s just a blessing from God to be able to play with a guy like Jake,” Johnson says of his quarterback. “He’s a great guy on and off the field, he’s always studying the game, and he’s a tremendous leader. It’s a great opportunity for me as a wide receiver to play with such a great quarterback.”
And even as the college football season gets underway this weekend, Johnson hasn’t forgotten the Jaguars and their upcoming season opener on Friday night.
“I would just tell them to enjoy the game and have fun out there,” he says about the Jaguars. “You only get to be in high school once, so take advantage of the time you have there. I love being here in Washington, but I miss Valley Center too. There’s nothing like those Friday nights out there on the football field.”
Johnson and the Huskies start the season on Saturday at BYU at 4 p.m. PST. Two of Washington’s games are scheduled to be televised nationally: a home game against No. 3 Nebraska on Sept. 18 is set to be shown on ABC at 12:30 p.m. PST, then the Huskies’ home game against UCLA on Nov. 18 will be shown on ESPN and online on ESPN3.com at 5 p.m. PST.