Former FSU QB De'Andre Johnson enrolls at East Mississippi C.C.

ByBrett McMurphy ESPN logo
Friday, August 14, 2015

Former Florida Statequarterback De'Andre Johnsonis enrolled at East Mississippi Community College, where he expects to play this fall, sources told ESPN on Friday.

Johnson is enrolled as a full-time student at the Scooba, Mississippi, junior college, a school spokeswoman told ESPN. East Mississippi begins the fall semester Monday.

Johnson was dismissed from Florida State's program last month after video surfaced of the 19-year-old Johnson allegedly striking a 21-year-old woman in a Tallahassee bar.

On July 6, hours after the state attorney's office released surveillance video of Johnson allegedly striking the woman, he was dismissed from Florida State's football program.

Johnson has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor battery charge.

Last month, Johnson apologized for his actions in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America." Johnson said he doesn't second-guess FSU's decision to dismiss him, but believes he deserved a second chance.

Johnson has a pretrial date set for Aug. 26 in Tallahassee. East Mississippi opens its season Aug. 27 at home against Southwest Mississippi Community College.

The Lions enter this season as the nation's top-ranked junior college program and seek an unprecedented third straight National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) championship.

Johnson will be the second high-profile recruit dismissed from a Power Five school to play quarterback at East Mississippi in consecutive seasons.

Chad Kelly,who was dismissed by Clemson for conduct detrimental to the program after the 2014 spring game, transferred to EMCC last year. He led the Lions to a 12-0 record, throwing for 3,906 yards and 47 TDs. After one season, Kelly left East Mississippi for Ole Miss, where he's battling for the starting QB spot this fall.

Like Kelly, Johnson was one of the nation's most coveted recruits out of high school. As a senior at Jacksonville's First Coast High School in 2014, Johnson was ranked the nation's No. 7 dual-threat quarterback and was named Florida's Mr. Football.

Johnson threw for 3,710 yards and 47 TDs in 13 games as a senior while running for 398 yards and nine TDs.

Johnson finished his prep career with 11,697 passing yards, 131 TD passes and 23 rushing TDs.

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