In the end, familiarity won the day in the recruitment of Puff Johnson. The 6-7 wing announced a verbal commitment to North Carolina on Tuesday, a program he’s seen intimately as both a Carolina recruit and a family member of a former Tar Heel player.

Johnson joins guards Caleb Love and R.J. Davis, and forwards Walker Kessler and Day'Ron Sharpe in the Tar Heels' 2020 class. He is ranked the No. 39 overall prospect in the senior class according to the 247Sports staff. The 2020 class represents the fifth time under Roy Williams that North Carolina has received commitments from at least five high school seniors (2005, 2006, 2009, 2017).

Johnson, a Moon Township, Pa. native who transferred to Phoenix (Ariz.) Hillcrest Prep for his senior season, chose North Carolina over offers from Arizona, Auburn, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Ohio State.

“I have a lot of room to grow,” Johnson told Inside Carolina. “Though I’m not perfect right now, I’m just working everyday to get stronger. I try to work on my craft continuously so I can be the best player possible and maximize my potential.”

It’s impossible to talk about Puff Johnson without mentioning his brother, Cam Johnson. In his final year of two seasons in Chapel Hill, Cam Johnson led UNC in scoring (16.9 points per game), while averaging 5.8 rebounds per game. He was voted the team’s most valuable player, was a first-team All-ACC selection, an Academic All-ACC selection, and made 96 three-pointers, the second most in single-season school history -- which translated into being the No. 11 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns.

“(Coming behind) Cam isn’t a negative, it’s a positive,” explained Puff Johnson. “You have a model to look at so to speak. You see what he did and how he did it, and think I could possibly replicate it or be as good or better. It’s a model I can base my game off of since he played in the same system.”

Johnson first caught UNC’s attention two years ago – a few months before the start of his sophomore year – when the UNC staff watched him at an adidas tournament in Atlanta. At that point, Johnson wasn’t considered a UNC-level prospect. However, he continued to develop and improve.

"Every time I play against him, every time I work out with him, I see an improvement I haven’t seen before and an area of his game I haven’t seen before," Cam Johnson told Inside Carolina this past summer about his brother. "Right now physically he’s maturing, hitting that stage where his speed is catching up with him and his body functions. He grew fast, he grew late … His legs are getting stronger, jumping better, handling the ball better. I play him one-on-one each time I see him and I have to go a little bit harder each time now."

This past spring, splitting duties between Nike and adidas grassroots teams, Johnson pieced together several strong performances, making him a priority evaluation for Williams, who watched two of Johnson’s games in Mansfield, Texas during April’s lone open period. The highlight of Johnson’s spring was a 34-point outing on the Nike circuit, in which he made nine three-pointers. North Carolina and Williams offered three days later (May 14).

“He's a great shooter,” said Corey Tucker, who coached Puff Johnson with All-Ohio Red on Nike’s EYBL circuit this past summer. “He made an immediate impact for us when he came from Adidas. I think his basketball IQ is underrated and a big part of what makes him a good player. He's a good rebounder, has sneaky athleticism, and he can shoot it. Those three things kind of set him apart."

The Tar Heels expect Johnson to man the ‘2,’ ‘3,’ and ‘4’ positions in their system.

“Puff scores it at all three levels and can shoot it deep like Cam,” his father, Gilbert Johnson said. “But, he can also post up, he rebounds well and he’s a very physical player. Cameron seems to think Puff would fit in well in North Carolina’s system. He thinks that because Puff is a scorer and a rebounder, he’s long as heck (7-foot-1 wingspan), and he can score at all three levels. In (UNC’s) system, rebounding and shooting are what wings are supposed to do.”