ANALYSIS: How Cameron Johnson has carved out his own role on team

Coming into this season, Cameron Johnson's reputation was defined by a player who left the year before.

The early departure of Justin Jackson from the North Carolina men’s basketball team last year left a void for the 2017-18 Tar Heels to fill. The future No. 15 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft was a long, quick defender and offered an offensive game that was unique to every other player in the country last year. 

And Johnson — mainly because of his similarity in size and position — seemed like a perfect person to plug in.

Never mind, for a moment, that this was a fundamentally different team with different needs, or that it would only return folkhero Luke Maye to its frontcourt: As basketball players coming into the season, Johnson and Jackson appeared to be cut from different fabrics. 

Jackson was the national championship team’s leading scorer and among the most reliable 3-point shooters in the nation. Johnson was merely a bright spot on a second-to-last ACC team. Jackson was the No. 8 player in ESPN’s Top 100 coming out of high school. Johnson wasn’t heavily recruited outside of his home state of Pennsylvania.

In other words, the graduate transfer from Pittsburgh was expected to pick up where the 2017 ACC Player of the Year left off. And it wouldn't be as easy as it was in theory.

A strained neck left Johnson out of the Tar Heels’ season-opener against Northern Iowa, and a torn meniscus right after kept him tied to the sideline until late December. In his absence, the Tar Heels went 10-1, only falling to then-No. 4 Michigan State. 

Johnson was supposed to seamlessly fit into a blooming roster. But everything was called into question when his 10-point, three-rebound debut ended in a 79-75 loss to Wofford — a team that had never beaten a top-25 team in its program history. 

“I don’t like to lose,” he said after the game. “This really hurts. And to come back and have this be my first game, it hurts a little bit more.”

The painful beginning wore off, though, and Johnson started to carve out his role. An impressive shooting performance against Ohio State (4-7 for 14 points), and two games of being on the floor during the Tar Heel runs that effectively determined those games, established his worth. 

It didn't take long. Five games after his debut, he was inserted into the starting lineup for first-year forward Garrison Brooks. 

The move signaled a turning point in North Carolina’s season. The Tar Heels went on a four-game ACC tear after his start against Boston College, and the lineup hasn't changed since. Despite playing the smaller lineup (and shortening the rotation), North Carolina boasts the best rebounding margin in the country.

Now, Johnson has carved out an integral role on this Tar Heel team. He ranks third on the team in points (13.2) and rebounds (4.6) per game. He’s among the team’s most reliable shooters, and even though this is his first year in Chapel Hill, head coach Roy Williams considers him part of the most experienced lineup he can put on the court. 

He's proven that he can carry the team at times. At Clemson, Johnson went 10-for-18 for a career-high 32 points. And in UNC's home game versus Duke, Johnson — with help from a historic effort from Kenny Williams — effectively kept North Carolina in the game in the first half. 

He may not demand as much attention as the other four players that start alongside him. He may not lead the team in any statistical category. When it comes down to it, he isn’t the player it seemed like North Carolina fans wanted when Justin Jackson declared for the NBA Draft at the end of last season.

Instead, he’s an asset to this less-experienced, streaky Tar Heel team, who quietly fulfills different roles to round out any lineup on the floor.

And, for this team, he's exactly what it needs.

@alexzietlow05

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com