Brice Johnson: The Tar Heels' Unexpected Star

Before the season started, Marcus Paige was expected to be in the running for ACC Player of the Year, and possibly a Wooden Award finalist.

So far it hasn’t exactly gone as planned, but heading into their game against No. 3 Virginia Saturday, Paige says he has no issues with that.

“My team is in first place and my best friend and teammate is doing exactly what everyone thought I was going to do,” Paige said. “It’s been a fun ride even though it definitely hasn’t been the way I thought it would be.”

Brice Johnson has emerged as the team’s number one scoring option with 17 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, a far cry from four years ago, when coach Roy Williams said there were questions about whether Johnson could take being a Tar Heel.

Roy Williams and Brice Johnson. (Photo by Todd Melet)

“I told you this before,” Williams said. “Joe Holladay (former UNC assistant coach) thought he would go home after the first day of fall conditioning.”

But Johnson didn’t go home.

Now after years of telling Johnson what to do, Paige is finding he has less to say to his best friend, who has 17 double doubles this season, including a 39 point, 23 rebound game against Florida State.

“I mean honestly what can I say to him,” Paige said. “He’s been a man in a lot of these games. Really big time performances. A lot of things I would say to him I have to remind myself to do.”

Williams on the other hand, still wants to see more from his star forward.

“I still get so mad at him because I want more,” he said. “I push him to get more and more and more.”

Williams benched Johnson shortly after the start of the game Wednesday night at NC State.

“I would’ve taken him out after one defensive possession but I couldn’t get the clock stopped,” he said. “But then he comes back in and has 22 (points) and 11 (rebounds). He’s come a long, long way.”

The Tar Heels are going to lean on him once again when they travel to take on Virginia Saturday.

The Cavaliers have the top ranked defense in the country, so UNC will need every point they can get from Brice Johnson.

Make sure to tune in to UNC Health Care’s Countdown to Tipoff, starting at 5:00 p.m. Saturday evening.