Former Moon standout Johnson takes talents to North Carolina
Back in April during a photo shoot for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fabulous 5 all-star team, players were asked to predict where Moon’s Donovan “Puff” Johnson would go to college. They predicted North Carolina.
“That’s the goal,” Johnson replied.
That’s now the reality. Johnson made a verbal commitment to North Carolina Tuesday night. Johnson left Moon this summer and transferred to Hillcrest Academy, a basketball prep school in Phoenix.
Johnson, a 6-foot-7 guardforward, helped Moon win the PIAA Class 5A championship as a junior and was selected to the Fab 5. But the WPIAL ruled Johnson had used up his eligibility because he repeated eighth grade.
Johnson and Moon had planned to appeal the ruling to the PIAA in the summer, but Johnson transferred to Hillcrest before the PIAA had a hearing.
Johnson is rated the No. 43 player in the country. Arizona and Pitt were two of his finalists, but he had scholarships from many schools across the country. Some reports had Arizona as the leader, but Johnson visited North Carolina last weekend and coach Roy Williams landed Johnson.
Puff Johnson will follow in his brother’s footsteps to North Carolina. Cam Johnson, who played in the WPIAL at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, was at Pitt before transferring and finishing his career at North Carolina.
Louisville
Jordan Nwora made his presence known on opening night with a 23-point performance that included four 3pointers and a throwdown dunk in No. 5 Louisville’s 8774 win over Miami. The Cardinals are touted as a potential Final Four team, and they lived up to the hype with a road rout of an ACC opponent. Nwora, the preseason ACC player of the year, shot 8 for 16 and had 12 rebounds in 31 minutes.
Oklahoma State
Cade Cunningham, the No. 2 prospect in the 2020 class and the top available player in the country, according to ESPN’s rankings, announced his commitment to Oklahoma State on Tuesday night. Cunningham chose the Cowboys after taking official visits to North Carolina, Florida, Kentucky and Washington, in addition to Oklahoma State. This is a monumental commitment for the Cowboys, it’s the program’s first five-star prospect since Marcus Smart in 2012.
Missouri State
Junior Brice Calip scored a career-high 21 points, Jasmine Franklin had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Missouri State upset No. 23 Minnesota, 77-69, for Amaka Agugua-Hamilton’s first victory as coach of the Lady Bears. Missouri State opened the game on an 18-4 spurt and held on to extend its school-record 11-game road winning streak.
Texas
Andrew Jones didn’t just return to basketball competition after a long absence. He took a star turn. Jones, absent for two years while receiving treatment for leukemia, rejoined the Texas rotation and scored a careerbest 20 points in 29 minutes as the Longhorns defeated Northern Colorado, 69-45, in the opener for both teams.