DBU Baseball's Ryan Johnson became the sixth-highest draft pick in school history when the Los Angeles Angels selected him with the 74th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft. Johnson, a junior right-handed pitcher from Red Oak, Texas, was a consensus All-American and Conference USA Pitcher of the Year in 2024 after going 11-3 with a 2.21 ERA in 16 starts.

In one of the most historic seasons in school history, Johnson set the Patriots' record for strikeouts in a season with 151. The Patriot legend also became DBU's all-time leader in strikeouts with 314 punchouts over his three-year career. Johnson finished the year ranked in the top 10 nationally in six categories, including third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.79), fourth in strikeouts (151) and walks allowed per nine innings (1.19), fifth in wins (11), sixth in ERA (2.21), and 10th in WHIP (0.92).

In three seasons at DBU, Johnson has compiled a 22-9 record with a 3.46 ERA in 50 appearances (40 starts). The Patriots' strikeout king ranks in the top 10 in school history in eight categories, including first in strikeouts (314), second in WHIP (1.10), third in wins (22) and base on balls per nine innings (2.07), fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (11.20), sixth in ERA and innings pitched (252.0), and seventh in starts (40).

With the Angels' selection of Johnson, he becomes the 74th Patriot drafted during Dan Heefner's 17 seasons as the head coach at DBU. Johnson also becomes the sixth player in program history to be selected by the Angels' organization joining Ken Bandy (1986), Colin Charland (1986), Kenny Hatcher (2012), Michael Smith (2013), and Tim Millard (2018).