Three-way battle for Pendleton defensive end Brad Johnson

Pendleton defensive end Brad Johnson, a longtime South Carolina target, has three schools tied at the top of his list with less than two months until Signing Day.

Johnson is down to South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Tennessee and will not make his decision until after finishing his official visits.

Johnson visited Virginia Tech this past weekend, will visit USC Jan. 13-15 and Tennessee Jan. 20-22.

“In a perfect world I want to commit shortly after my Tennessee visit, sit down for a couple of days with my family, a lot of prayers, and hopefully make a decision then,” he said after Shrine Bowl practice on Monday. “But if not Signing Day would be an option.”

Johnson added that he enjoyed the Virginia Tech visit but the Hokies did not pull away from the other two schools.

“Nobody has taken a lead,” he said. “I’m going to take those three visits so I can have an equal set for all of them. I’ll take an official visit to all of them then come back, have a lot of prayers with my family, talk it over and try to have a decision from there.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2016 at 1:59 PM.