Suns' Cam Johnson's brother, North Carolina's Puff Johnson, ready for Duke in Final Four
College basketball fans are lucky to have the sport's greatest rivalry, Duke and North Carolina, face off in the Final Four in New Orleans on Saturday.
The game's most compelling family connection subplot is about Gil Johnson, the luckiest fan seeing his two kids' hoops dreams come true on the two of basketball's biggest stages within one year.
Two of his four sons are Phoenix Suns forward Cameron Johnson and North Carolina sophomore forward Donovan "Puff" Johnson, who graduated from Gilbert Hillcrest Prep in 2020.
“It’s a blessing. It’s surreal. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it," Johnson said to The Republic. "To have one in the Final Four and last year Cameron went with the Suns to the championship, if we can complete both this year, that would be just unreal. It’s indescribable.”
Johnson added the best superlative about this life moment for him and his family is "unbelievable-believable," feeling the euphoria while knowing his sons' hard work is paying off.
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Cameron is one of the NBA's defending Western Conference champion's top shooters who completed his Master's degree at North Carolina, after he was drafted by the Suns 11th overall in 2019.
In Cameron's last game played on March 4, he had a career-high 38 points, including nine 3-pointers and his 31-foot buzzer-beating 3 to beat the New York Knicks in Phoenix.
After Cameron missed Phoenix's last 13 games from a quad contusion suffered against New York, the Suns are currently on a nine-game win streak, clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs, and tied their franchise record 62 win in their road victory at Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.
The Suns are favorites to return and win the NBA Finals, but Cameron's more proud of his younger brother Puff experiencing the Final Four's grandeur because Cameron never got there.
Cameron played his final two college years at North Carolina as a transfer after three years (including a redshirt freshman year) at hometown school Pittsburgh.
“Yeah, it’s special. The Final Four, five years I couldn’t get there and I just told him that you really gotta embrace this part of your career," Cameron said. "It’s very hard to get there.
"Enjoy it, embracing it and really fighting to win that national championship and I’m so happy for him. To see him doing it at the same school I played at is really cool.”
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Being highly competitive in their sibling rivalry, Cam has raised the bar for both of them but Puff will likely be in the UNC-Duke Final Four game's box score and possibly play for a national title.
"Well, he is in the NBA, so he has ultimate bragging rights," Puff said in a text message. "But being in the Final Four and potentially winning a national championship gives me good leverage in our college basketball accomplishment bragging rights."
Hillcrest prepared Johnson for The Carolina Way
The Johnsons are among countless storylines entering the game between the West Region champion Blue Devils (32-6) and East Region winner Tar Heels (28-9).
Both programs have never faced each other in the NCAA tournament. For several decades, the NCAA men's tournament committee seemingly set up the brackets for Duke and North Carolina to possibly face each other in the title game or the national semifinals.
This will be Duke's Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski's 100th and final meeting against the Tar Heels. After splitting their two regular season games, including the Blue Devils losing in his final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Coach K has a 50-49 record against Carolina since he was hired in 1980.
“It’s real rowdy in there," Cameron said about playing at Duke. "That hype is just really makes you enjoy this game.
"Really makes you appreciate this game and just having those types of experiences to play in those types of environments, the Finals and the Duke-Carolina game, those are experiences that will live with me for the rest of my life and it will be cool to share with my kids one day.”
Krzyzewski's five national titles are second to the late John Wooden's 10 at UCLA. Coach K's 1202 total wins and 101 in the NCAA tournament are the most all-time in Division I.
North Carolina alum Hubert Davis made history last year as the program's first Black head coach when Roy Williams stepped down after leading UNC to three titles in his 19 years there.
After Phoenix beat the Philadelphia 76ers at home last Sunday, Suns coach Monty Williams reflected on his two years as Davis' New York Knicks teammate from 1994 to 1996.
“Hubert was really thoughtful about the game. He and I come from the same area," Williams
Williams is from Maryland. Davis is from Virginia.
"To see him in this position at his alma mater in the Final Four, it’s really cool. I’ve watched them a few times and they had some struggles early on and his ability to keep the group together through the adversity," Williams said.
After winning eight of their first 10 games, the Tar Heels (28-9) struggled after their 29-point loss to Kentucky on Dec. 18 and lost their next four out of seven contests. Since Jan. 24, they have won 16 of their last 19 games and were the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament before losing in the semifinals to eventual coach Virginia Tech.
Williams said he heard UNC’s players talk about Davis’ calm demeanor and positivity in the postgame after losing to Kentucky, which drove their confidence to regroup and make a Final Four run.
“I’m not surprised, he’s been in that program as an assistant for a while. I’m sure he’s learned a ton. The Carolina Way is something we’ve (coaches) all stolen a lot from. And if you’ve ever been on that campus and been to the gym with them, they have basketball IVs in their arm. They are basketball nirvana.”
The Carolina Way is a simplistic philosophy devised by its longtime coach and late Hall of Famer Dean Smith: playing hard, selfless (i.e. player pointing to the other player who assisted their made field goal, standing and applauding a teammate's return to the bench); winning in the classroom and not just on the court; not focusing on wins or losses but playing fundamentally sound at all costs.
Standing 6-foot-8 like Cameron, the combo guard Puff believes his senior year at Hillcrest prepared him for Carolina.
After Puff was played his first two high school years at Our Lady Sacred Heart (Coraopolis, Penn.) and led it to a state championship as a sophomore, he transferred to crosstown school Moon Area where he won a state championship as a junior. He earned the state's Player of the Year award, averaged 22.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, and committed to UNC.
"Puff chose North Carolina because of the tradition, because of the brotherhood, because his brother was there," Gil said. "And also, they ran an offense that’s friendly for guy’s of his skill set. If you go back, all the Carolina threes, small forwards, were like Cam, Justin Jackson, (Reggie) Bullock, Danny Green, they all have the same skill set.”
Then Puff told his dad, "I need a challenge because I’ve already done what I can do here."
That's when he moved to Phoenix to play for Hillcrest when Cameron was drafted by the Suns.
Puff averaged 14.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists, and shot 44.6% from the 3 range in 14 games at Hillcrest.
"Hillcrest was a great school that prepared me for college and that’s the reason why I went there. Carolina Basketball is a brand of Basketball that prides it’s on playing hard playing smart and playing together and I feel like Hillcrest did a great job getting me prepared for it," Puff said.
Puff is the only Hillcrest alum to reach the Final Four.
He's part of UNC's second unit averaging 2.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, and shooting 44.2% overall in 10.1 minutes per game.
Hillcrest co-founder Nick Weaver said Puff has tremendously given back to the Bruins basketball program, assisting their player recruitment.
“When I recruit players in certain areas, especially in like Pennsylvania, he’s helped,” Weaver said. “Puff will get on the phone with guys for us, and DM (direct message) them. And the fact that he went to a blue blood was huge, too.”
Have tips for us? Reach the reporter at dana.scott@azcentral.com or at 480-486-4721. Follow his Twitter @iam_DanaScott.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cam Johnson's brother, UNC's Puff Johnson, ready for Duke in Final Four
