Somewhere in Stephon Johnson’s bedroom sits a pair of Eno Benjamin’s gloves. How that came to be is a story that began two years ago, one that Johnson has been reverting back to after Arizona State offered him last week.

Johnson, now a three-star receiver in the Class of 2022 from Texas, was in Phoenix during the summer of 2018. He was a soon-to-be freshman attending a quarterback camp, hoping his slick hands and crisp routes would effectively thrust his name into the minds of college football coaches.

Perhaps the camp helped his recruiting hopes, but the most memorable moment of his Arizona visit came off the field. Along with Sebastian Circo -- whose father, Chris, owns Battle, which sponsored the camp -- and recruit Noah Fafita, Johnson toured the Arizona State football faculties during some downtime.

“I just remember seeing the stadium, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy,’” Johnson said.

Along the tour, the trio began trekking into through the hallways of the still-under-renovation student-athlete center when Johnson spotted Benjamin, who was months away from breaking the Sun Devils’ single-season rushing record. A Texas kid, Johnson recognized the ASU running back as the former Wylie East High stud and asked him if he could snag his gloves as a keepsake.

“It was crazy,” Johnson said of the encounter. “I had just seen his highlights, and then I was getting his gloves.”

Now, Johnson is considering following in Benjamin’s footsteps as a Texas recruit turned Sun Devil. Last week, the Sun Devils were Johnson’s penultimate offer on a list that also includes SMU, Arkansas, Kansas, Houston and Ole Miss.

During his sophomore season at Lancaster High, Johnson caught 33 passes for 469 yards and five touchdowns.

“My game is after the catch,” Johnson said. “After the catch, I’m going to try and score every time. I may not be the fastest, but I will run away from people. I have that running back mentality.”

Arizona State wide receivers coach Prentice Gill contacted Johnson last Friday with the good news, chatting with the 6-foot-1, 179-pound wide-out for a half-hour talking about how Johnson may fit into ASU’s offense and the surge of commits the Sun Devils recently locked down.

“I just feel like me, and him are going to have a great relationship,” Johnson said of Gill. “We’re going to get along great … (ASU) was straight-forward, and he let me know what it was up-front. He told me how he felt, and I respected that as a recruit. Sometimes coaches don’t give you all the details. I feel like he (Gill) was very honest with me.”

Devils Digest spoke with Johnson following the Pac-12’s announcement of the postponement of the 2020 fall football season. Because he holds offers from SEC and Big-12 programs, which have yet to make an announcement on the future of its seasons, Johnson said future college football decisions “may” impact his decision, namely if he saw interested schools excel in 2020 without having a chance to view a Sun Devil game.

As a 2022 recruit, though, his fears can be tempered knowing he’ll likely be headed into a college football landscape with more security that than ‘20 or ‘21 prospects. Regardless, with official visits still uncertain moving forward, Johnson said he’ll put an added emphasis on his relationship with coaches.

“I just have to have that relationship, and I want to feel wanted somewhere,” Johnson said. “I want to build a relationship with a coaching staff that I know that they will show the same love back toward me. I just want it to feel like family, that it’s home at the school.”

And, so far, the Sun Devil coaches have caught Johnson’s attention.

“It’s crazy. Like Herm Edwards and Antonio Pierce, those are legends. And I could be playing under them. That would be crazy,” Johnson said of ASU’s ‘Pro Model.’ “Arizona State, they produce great receivers. (Former first-round picks) N’Keal Harry and Brandon Aiyuk, receivers like that.

“If I can do half the things that they did, I feel like (ASU) will give me a chance to improve my game and go to the next level. I feel like Arizona State is one of the schools I’m really, really looking into.”

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