Inside The Panthers

Cameron Johnson Makes USA FIBA World Cup Roster

It's been a good month for former Pitt Panther Cameron Johnson.

Stephen Thompson

Cameron Johnson Makes USA FIBA World Cup Roster
Cameron Johnson Makes USA FIBA World Cup Roster /
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PITTSBURGH -- It's been a good month for former Pitt Panthers guard Cameron Johnson. 

Last week, he signed a lucrative second NBA contract with the Brooklyn Nets worth more than $100 million and now, he is a member of Team USA. Johnson will join other NBA stars in competing at the FIBA World Cup. He;s the only former Panther to make the team.  

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, Heat head coach Eric Spolestra, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue and Gonzaga head coach Mark Few make up the coaching staff. 

Team USA will open play in Group C on August 26 against New Zealand in Manila, Philippines. They will face Greece on August 28 and Jordan on August 30 to wrap up the group phase. The top two teams from each of the six groups will advance to the second round.

They will play Puerto Rico on August 7 in Las Vegas in the first of five exhibition games. They will play friendlies in Spain against Slovenia and Spain and wrap up their schedule in Abu Dhabi against Greece and Germany during the week leading up to the start of the tournament.

Johnson came to Brooklyn as part of the massive return package for Kevin Durant, who the Nets shipped out to the Phoenix Suns in the middle of this past season and he thrived in a larger role in Brooklyn. He averaged 16.6 points, 2.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds while playing more minutes per night (30.8) than he ever had in his career. When it was all said and done, Johnson's 25 games with the Nets helped lift his 2022-23 campaign into the best of his four seasons as a professional.

In college, Johnson, a native of Cranberry Township, spent three years playing for his hometown team, Pitt. He starred for the Panthers, averaging 11.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while making 41.5% of his 3-pointers in 2016-17 before opting to transfer to North Carolina.

His production exploded when he moved south to Chapel Hill. Johnson averaged 15 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest and made 41% of his 3-pointers for the Tar Heels before being selected 11th overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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