UNC Basketball: Cam Johnson shares moment with brother Puff after win

Following the Tar Heels’ victory over the Blue Devils in the Final Four on Saturday night, former UNC basketball player Cameron Johnson shared a special moment with his younger brother, Puff.

North Carolina reserve guard Puff Johnson only got onto the court for nine minutes of Saturday night’s Final Four game against the Duke Blue Devils, but he made the most of it.

The second-year wing out of Moon Township, Pennsylvania scored just two points, but they were a pair of clutch free throws that tied the game when the Tar Heels were trailing 67-65 with just 4:36 remaining in the game. Johnson stepped up to the line and sank both free throws as if he’d been there before, and he also pulled down a couple of big rebounds and came up with a timely steal.

He did the bulk of his work in the second half when the Tar Heels needed him most, coming onto the court following the Armando Bacot injury that forced Hubert Davis to look to his bench. He did anything but play like a seldom-used sophomore, stepping into the spotlight on college basketball’s biggest stage and playing crucial minutes in front of 70,000 screaming fans.

He shared a special moment with one of those fans following the game. It was his older brother, Cameron, who played for the Tar Heels from 2017-2019. The two Tar Heels shook hands and embraced, jubilantly celebrating the biggest win of either of their careers at the college level. It felt like a passing of the torch from one Johnson brother to the other.

The smile on Puff’s face says it all. He loves North Carolina. He loves it just like his brother, who was seen in the stands hugging former UNC head coach Roy Williams prior to the start of the game. He’s going to be a difference-maker for the Tar Heels over the next couple of seasons, just like he was on Saturday night.

He’s got the skill, the heart, the toughness, and the grit to do it. It’s those same shared intangibles that his brother has, ones that ultimately made him a lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and arguably the league’s best three-point shooter.

I look for big things to come from young Puff Johnson and I can’t wait to watch it all unfold.

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