"I thought it was best for me," he said in an interview with the Tribune. "I'm gonna lift, I'm going to train. As a redshirt freshman, I'll get some travel with the team, be with the team at games, watch them play, and jus be acclimated to that college atmosphere, so I can be ready for the season."
The Utes are happy to welcome Johnson, a 7-foot, 230-pound center from Santa Monica (Calif.) who is a consensus four-star prospect and a top 75 recruit in the 2016 class.
But wait — about that: He's reclassifying to 2015 so he can graduate in December and join Utah shortly thereafter to join the team and acclimate early into the college routine.