Cortez Johnson (right) was one happy Wildcat after Arizona's victory at Arizona State. Photo by Jennifer Hilderbrand-US PRESSWIRE

When sophomore defensive back Cortez Johnson left the Arizona Wildcats during spring ball, the word was that he was going to transfer somewhere close to his New Orleans home.

Well, Norman, Okla., is a bit closer.

Johnson has decided to reunite with former Arizona head coach Mike Stoops, now the defensive coordinator and secondary coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. Also, Ryan Walters, who served as UA’s secondary coach last season, is a grad assistant at OU.

“I just wanted to get back with Coach Stoops and be closer to home,” Johnson told ESPN.com. “Oklahoma — it just felt right. Everything went great and fell right in place.”

Johnson played in eight games, starting two, as a true freshman last season, when he was slowed by concussions. He’s a big, physical defensive back who can play cornerback or safety. He probably would have had a significant role in Arizona’s five-man secondary this season.

Despite Johnson’s modest recruiting rankings — he was rated two stars out of five by Scout.com — Stoops identified the defensive back as an immediate impact player on 2011 Signing Day.

“Cortez will be a guy who will compete right off the bat for playing time,” Stoops said then.

Last fall, Stoops said: “He’s pretty much a slam dunk kind of guy. We knew he was a great player. You don’t see many corners that size who has that much range, athletic ability. There are a lot of things about him that stood out as a player.”

Despite the coaching change at Arizona, with new systems on both sides of the ball and further demands on strength and conditioning, not many players — at least so far — have left Rich Rodriguez’s team.

Quarterbacks Daxx Garman and Tom Savage left in December; Johnson left during spring.

Starting cornerback Trevin Wade might not see a lot of passes his way with so much inexperience at the other corner. Photo by Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona interim head coach Tim Kish will have a short-handed secondary against Washington with four defensive backs suspended for at least half of the game, a result of their participation in Thursday night’s brawl against UCLA.

Kish reviewed video of the incident, talked to Pac-12 officials, and said Monday he agreed with the decision for the conference to hand down additional sanctions a day after the game.

“As I mentioned to the team after the game and at halftime, discipline is the cornerstone of where we’re at right now, and that was a lack of discipline. It was a little bit of a selfish reaction.

“You have to understand the bigger purpose — what’s best for the team. It’s unfortunate. From my opinion, it’s the right thing to do from the commissioner’s standpoint. It is something we’re going to have to deal with.”

The biggest issue is at cornerback. Starter Shaquille Richardson — who was ejected late in the first half against UCLA for fighting — is out for the Washington. His replacement, Lyle Brown, is suspended for the first half.

Arizona lists true freshman Cortez Johnson and sophomore Derrick Rainey as co-starters on this week’s depth chart. Johnson has been out for the past couple of weeks with injury, but is available, Kish said. Johnson looked good in fall camp, but almost all of his playing time has been on special teams.

With nickel back Jourdon Grandon suspended for the game, and backup safety Mark Watley out for the first half, look for true freshman Tramayne Bondurant to start at nickel back. Bondurant (5-10, 185) made his first start last week as a linebacker, when he was used a rover in a newly-installed flex defense.

The scheme put Bondurant in position to make plays — and he led the team with 10 tackles.

“Just the competitiveness he plays with,” Kish said, asked what he likes about Bondurant.

“He has some fire. He has great instincts. He can play a lot of positions for us … He had a heck of a job for just a week of practice understanding what was expected of him. We probably hid him away too long.”

Kish said he will considering moving a couple of offensive skill players to defensive back to help out in emergency situations, although he declined to specify which ones.

Arizona, which uses its nickel package the majority of the time, will have three starters available — cornerback Trevin Wade and safeties Robert Golden and Marquis Flowers.

Arizona will be going against Washington sophomore quarterback Keith Price, who has been excellent in his first season as a starter, replacing departed Jake Locker.

Price has completed 141 of 206 passes (68.45 percent) for 1,713 yards, with 22 touchdowns and five interceptions.

“I think the coaches up there would say he is actually running the offense better than what Locker did. I have heard that comment made several times” Kish said.

“He’s having a tremendous year. He throws the ball well. He moves well in the pocket. He doesn’t get himself in trouble. They have some real talent on that side of the ball.”

Cortez Johnson comes down with an interception in front of fellow true freshman Patrick Onwuasor during camp. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

Back on Signing Day, when Arizona safety Adam Hall and cornerback Jonathan McKnight still had intact and original ACLs, the Wildcats’ secondary was one of the deepest positions on the team.

The Cats also had returning starters Trevin Wade and Robert Golden, plus gifted sophomores such as Shaquille Richardson and Marquis Flowers, as well some redshirts looking to make a depth-chart move — Jourdon Grandon and Josh Robbins.

With such a crowd in the defensive backfield, coach Mike Stoops nonetheless looked at his list of new Wildcats on Feb. 2 and singled out a kid who had committed just a day earlier — cornerback Cortez Johnson from New Orleans.

“Cortez will be a guy who will compete right off the bat for playing time,” Stoops said.

Not only compete, as it turns out, but win that playing time.

Johnson figures to be one of Arizona’s most valuable true freshmen when the season kicks off Saturday against NAU. He not only impressed with his play during camp, but injuries to Hall and McKnight have elevated Johnson to the third cornerback position and a spot on the field when the team deploys its dime coverage (six defensive backs).

“You just know about a certain player,” Stoops said, asked about his confident remarks about Johnson on Signing Day.

“He’s pretty much a slam dunk kind of guy. We knew he was a great player. You don’t see many corners that size who has that much range, athletic ability. There are a lot of things about him that stood out as a player.”

It didn’t seem to be that obvious, though. Scout.com gave Johnson the courtesy of a two-star rating (out of five) and deemed him merely the 167th-best cornerback in the country. Rivals.com gave him three stars, but didn’t rank him among the top 65 cornerbacks.

Johnson wasn’t swimming in offers from SEC schools. He committed to UA over Pittsburgh. Minnesota and Southern Miss were among his other scholarship offers.

Six months after Signing Day, Johnson checked in to Arizona at 6-2, 190, physically ready to play.

Johnson

“Before I got here, I really didn’t have that much confidence because I was new to this, but as the days went on, I got more and more confidence just by having Rob Golden and Trevin Wade helping me,” Johnson said.

“They said, ‘Just be yourself. Play your game. When Coach is looking at you, don’t try to do more that you do. Just play your game.’”

That game also includes a healthy dose of trash-talking and a willingness to immediately mix it up in practice with Arizona’s veteran receivers. If he lacked confidence, it was hard to tell during camp.

“When I talk, that keeps me motivated a lot,” Johnson said. He added with a smile, “I really get that from Rob Golden.”

Golden is Arizona’s primary talker, and Johnson fits right in by having a certain brashness that never hurts in the one-on-one world of secondary play.

Talk is one thing. Doing is another.

The season begins.

“He has just to be more focused on the details and mentally in it every play,” said secondary coach Ryan Walters. “He’s athletic as all get-out. And he’s very football-savvy. He wants to be a great player, and that goes a long way.”

Cortez Johnson likes the TucsonCitizen Sports Network page on Facebook. Shouldn’t you too?

The Wildcats stretch before Friday morning's practice.

FORT HUACHUCA — It was a business-like practice for the Arizona Wildcats on Friday morning, their second day holding football drills on the Army post.

With fall camp now more than a week old, the minor injuries are beginning to accumulate. Receivers Terrence Miller and David Roberts were among those sitting out Friday, although it’s not considered serious.

Starting cornerback Jonathan McKnight tweaked his right knee after catching his foot in the turf early in practice, coach Mike Stoops said. McKnight did not return to drills.

“He’s fine,” Stoops said. “Thanks goodness it’s nothing.”

Stoops said McKnight should be ready to play in Saturday afternoon’s scrimmage.

In McKnight’s absence, sophomore Shaquille Richardson slid out to corner. Richardson had been working at nickel back in the absence of Jourdon Grandon (out three weeks with torn meniscus).

“We’ve got a lot of guys kind of nicked up eight days in,” Stoops said. “We’re trying to rep a lot of the young guys, keep other guys fresh. We’ve got some aches and pains and strains, but I think we’re in pretty good shape.”

Lineup watch

True freshman Cortez Johnson, who was cleared to practice for the first time Thursday, worked as a second-team cornerback Friday morning.

At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, Johnson looks physically ready to play right now and he has made enough of an impression that Stoops commented, “We know what Cortez Johnson can do.” …

Elsewhere, Jack Baucus, who switched from tight end to right tackle on Saturday, worked for the second consecutive practice at center. Backup center Addison Bachman suffered a wrist injury Thursday and had a cast on his right forearm Friday.

Bad news is that he snaps with that hand, so Baucus continues to take a crash course at center behing starter Kyle Quinn … and, understandably, Baucus still needs more consistency with his shotgun snaps.

Criner is just fine

Senior receiver Juron Criner looks every bit of an All-American in practice, often making spectacular catches amid tight coverage. That’s a huge relief after his summer “personal and family” problems that led to speculation that his season could be in danger.

As for those amazing catches?

“We’ve kind of come to expect it a little bit,” said receivers coach Dave Nichol. “He’s just playing with some confidence right now. It’s good. It’s good.”

What’s next

Arizona will hold a scrimmage on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Bujalski Field at Fort Huachuca. It is open to the public. To enter the post, you must have a valid driver’s license, proof of car insurance and current registration.