N.J. safety picks N.C. State

N.C. State's Tom O'Brien has used ties from his previous head coaching job at Boston College to help land one of New Jersey's top prospects.

Dontae Johnson, a safety rated the No. 6 player in New Jersey according to rivals.com, committed to the Wolfpack on Sunday. His coach at The Pennington School, Jerry Eure, said his staff developed a relationship with O'Brien and his assistants when they were at Boston College.

Stanford, Connecticut, Syracuse and Michigan State were among the schools Johnson considered before choosing N.C. State. He is 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds and also plays wide receiver and returns punts and kickoffs for Pennington.

Johnson already has four interceptions and four touchdowns in four games this season.

"He's got good speed," Eure said. "He's long, rangy and covers a lot of ground."