North Carolina's Cameron Johnson: Game at Pitt will be 'pretty special'

Jeff Capel has respect and plenty of praise for former Pitt player Cameron Johnson, who’s coming back to Petersen Events Center on Saturday as a graduate student for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

“He’s a really good player, a really good kid, a really good family,” Pitt’s coach said of Johnson, who transferred to North Carolina after the 2016-17 season.

But that won’t stop Capel from unleashing upon Johnson the wrath of the Oakland Zoo and anyone else inside the sold-out Pete who wants to join in the fun.

“I hope Saturday Cam’s not outstanding,” Capel said, rather shamelessly. “I hope the crowd does get to him and messes with him a little bit, and he can’t make shots like he normally does, because he’s a really, really great shooter. He’s a great shooter, not a good shooter.”

Johnson, who graduated from Pitt in three years with a degree in communications, doesn’t mind telling you his return to the Pete does not represent just another game.

“It’s going to be awesome,” said Johnson, who leads the Tar Heels in scoring (16.4 points per game, 4.5 more than his final season at Pitt). “It’s a place where I spent a lot of time, a lot of years, even before I came to Pitt.

“I’ve been in that arena a lot of times. The opportunity to play there one last time is going to be pretty special.

“But first and foremost, it’s our first conference game. We need to handle business. That will be the first thing on my mind.”

Johnson gives the No. 15 Tar Heels (10-3) good length at 6-foot-9 and accurate long-range shooting from the wings and corners. He leads the team in 3-point shooting percentage (48.5), is second in minutes (27.5) and field-goal shooting among starters (52.4) and third in rebounding (5.2).

Capel, a former Duke assistant, knew about Johnson long before he started preparing his team for Saturday’s game.

“When he was at Pitt, I knew he was a really good shooter, had really good size,” he said. “I thought he was a good player. I think he’s gotten better.

“Probably the competition in practice every day has helped him get better. Certain programs have a culture where their guys just get better because of the standards. The North Carolina program is a program like that.”

The key to Johnson’s improved play has been his health. Hip surgery soon after the end of last season improved his mobility.

He said hip pain was a chronic issue that started hurting him in high school at Our Lady of Sacred Heart and kept getting worse.

“It set me back a little bit, just the time frame of everything,” he said of the surgery. “I just missed the whole summer basically in terms of running and being able to play. I tried to hit the rehab hard. I tried to strengthen my body overall and started playing again at the end of August.”

He’s recovered now, stronger than ever and eager for ACC play and whatever happens after that.

“I want to play as long as I can until my body doesn’t let me anymore,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said he holds no resentment toward Pitt, even though university officials tried to block his transfer to another ACC school.

“None at all,” said Johnson, who was recruited by Jamie Dixon and played one season for Kevin Stallings. “I’m grateful they allowed me to have played my two years, grateful for everything the university has done for me personally.”

He said the decision to transfer “was really tough in the moment.”

“I had a lot of conversations with my family. Those were really tough, a little bit of stressful times. Because staying at Pitt, I felt comfortable there. I built up a lot of credit within the program, and I knew everything about the campus and what the coaches wanted.

“Leaving was a little bit of a change. I had to take that leap. I’m glad I did. I wouldn’t change anything.”

Asked what he might have done if Capel, who has changed the trajectory of the program, had arrived at Pitt a year earlier, Johnson gave an honest answer.

“That’s a tough one,” he said. “Obviously, one of the reasons why I left was the disappointment of the previous season (when Pitt was 4-14 in the ACC under Stallings). We just had a lot of change coming through the program, losing a lot of seniors, losing a lot of guys.

“I have no idea what would have happened had that year prior gone differently. But in the end, things happen for a reason. I wouldn’t change a thing. I really embrace the opportunity I have now.

“Playing for a Hall of Fame coach I really respect, I enjoy playing for coach (Roy) Williams. It’s a great basketball environment. It’s a great fan base. The University of North Carolina is a very historic program. To be able to be a part of that means a lot.”

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry at jdipaola@tribweb.com or
via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.