[2/3/04]The first time Rory Johnson raised a college coach’s eyebrow, he was in the 10th grade. Thousands of phone calls and letters, dozens of visits, and a handful of scholarship offers followed, all leading up to this Wednesday.

That’s when, after two years of pursuing Warren County’s most sought-after football prospect in a decade, Johnson will announce which college he will play for next fall.

The beginning

Johnson had a solid season in 2001, his first as a starter for Vicksburg High, finishing with 58 tackles, three sacks and a fumble recovery.

As the Gators made the rounds to the various summer camps in 2002, however, Johnson’s notoriety really began to grow.

“We went to Mississippi State and went through their drills, and one of the coaches there said that’s a good-looking linebacker you’ve got. He’s a senior, right?’ I told him, no, coach you’ve got two more years yet,'” VHS defensive coordinator Robert Erves said with a laugh. “They were just amazed at his speed and his agility.”

Mississippi State’s coaches weren’t the only ones blown away by Johnson’s rare combination of size (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) and speed (4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash). Before long, he was receiving letters and phone calls from nearly every Southeastern Conference school, plus a few in the Big 12, Conference USA and Pac-10.

Johnson solidified his standing as a top prospect by totaling 96 tackles and nine sacks as a junior in 2002, and improved it off the field.

He advanced to the Class 5A state track meet in both the 100 and 200 meters last May. He also added about 15 pounds to his frame and dropped his 40-yard dash time by about a tenth of a second, to 4.3 seconds.

“That also helped him when he ran track. That increased his speed,” Erves said. “That just took his talent to another level.”

Life in the spotlight

As Johnson headed into his senior year, the attention continued to grow.

LSU coach Nick Saban came to Vicksburg to watch Johnson at track practice last spring. The Sporting News, as well as several national recruiting services, listed him as one of the Top 100 prospects in the nation. Recruiting guru Tom Lemming, who ranks prep football players for ESPN.com, said he was the best high school linebacker in Mississippi and ranked him as the 70th best player in the country at any position.

And then there were the phone calls.

Since last summer, Johnson’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing. His mother, Rebecca, once had to excuse herself when a reporter called because she was on the phone with a Mississippi State coach. When the reporter called back a little later, Rebecca Johnson told him she had just finished taking another call from Southern Miss head coach Jeff Bower.

“It got old by the end of summer,” Rory Johnson said with a laugh. “I know last night I had 20 or 25 calls. But I like it. It makes me feel kind of happy to know people are interested.”

Rumors also flew fast and furious, with every offhand comment Johnson made to a classmate or teacher sparking joy or sorrow on Internet message boards.

Johnson said he hadn’t heard a lot of the rumors, but was bewildered how some people ran with what he had told them.

“Someone asked me how I liked Mississippi State, and I told them I liked it,” Johnson said. “A lot of people thought I was going to Mississippi State, and I was like, no, you just asked me a question about Mississippi State.'”

If the calls became a headache, the campus visits didn’t. Johnson has been on a veritable world tour since 2004 began, taking official visits to Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss and Nebraska.

“It’s a whole lot of fun. You meet new people, meet new girls,” he said with a smile.

Johnson said he enjoyed all of the expenses-paid weekend getaways, but Ole Miss was the best of the bunch.

“I liked Ole Miss a lot,” he said last week, as he wore a No. 44 Rebels jersey with his name on the back. “The position they had put me in, there’s only one other linebacker at that spot so I think I’ll be able to start early.”

Not every school was that kind. Despite collecting 85 tackles, three sacks and three fumble recoveries in his senior year, several colleges backed off of Johnson because of a series of injuries that caused him to miss most of three games.

The worst, a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered against Warren Central, ended his season. After having surgery to repair the damage, he didn’t eat for nearly a week and lost 25 pounds.

“After I had surgery, I took so much medicine that I didn’t eat for three or four days,” Johnson said. “It was kind of hard eating, because my stomach didn’t want to hold down food.”

Johnson is expected to make a complete recovery, but the injury led nearly a half-dozen schools to calm their pursuit. Several others dropped off because of questions about Johnson’s academics.

Due to an earlier grade, Johnson was not eligible for a required core class, English IV, during the spring semester at Vicksburg High. Johnson would be eligible to take the class in summer school, but that would conflict with accepting an athletic scholarship, so he transferred to McCall High in Tallulah to take the class.

“It hasn’t been a distraction,” Johnson said. “It was kind of difficult because you’re going to have to overcome that stuff. Life is going to have its obstacles.”

Decision time

While some suitors have come and gone, the first four to recruit Johnson heavily are also the last four in the running.

His decision has come down to Ole Miss, MSU, Southern Miss and Nebraska. Each had its positives and negatives, and each had been chasing him for nearly two years.

He was leaning toward the three Mississippi schools, but visited Nebraska last weekend and started to waver.

“I liked the trip to Nebraska. They’ve got a chance to win the national championship,” Johnson said, adding that the facilities were “the best I’ve ever seen.”

So who will it be?

Will Johnson trade in his Gator green for a blackshirt? Can he upgrade his replica Ole Miss jersey for the real thing? Is Hattiesburg the right place for him? Or will he have Bulldog fans barking next season?

Even Johnson isn’t sure yet. One thing is for sure, though the clock is ticking down, and he’ll be sure to savor the last few days of being one of the most-wanted men in Mississippi.

“I just liked everything about it,” Johnson said of the recruiting process. “Now I’m known around the state. I go somewhere and they know who I am. It’s fun while it lasts.”