Basketball fans in Western Pennsylvania are familiar with the name Cam Johnson. The former OLSH standout started his college career at Pitt before transferring last year to North Carolina.
The basketball bloodlines run deep in the Johnson family and basketball fans in this area have another Johnson to keep their eyes on.
Donovan Johnson is a 6-foot-6 sophomore guard at OLSH and earlier this week he received some really big news.
Johnson received word that he’d received his first D-1 scholarship offer and it came from Keith Dambrot and the Duquesne Dukes.
“I was hoping that this was coming,” Johnson said. “Coach Dambrot is a great guy, I can’t speak highly enough about him. He’s a great guy, obviously he’s a great coach. He mentioned to me that he coached Lebron, which is amazing. I can tell he’s a coach that I’d love to play for.
“One of his assistants came last week to watch practice but as far as this offer coming, I had no idea. I was very excited (about the offer) and just feel blessed. I want to thank my family, friends, my trainers at OLSH and my personal trainers at The Scoring Factory, Coach Jordan and Coach Pete and of course my coaches here at OLSH, I can’t thank them enough for helping me to get to this point.
“It’s just amazing that I was able to earn a scholarship already and I’m only a sophomore.”
Johnson said that after getting the news, he called his older brother who told him to keep working and keep pushing. Despite getting this offer, Johnson is far from a finished product but his head coach at OLSH Mike Rodriguez is excited to get to work with him for the next two seasons.
”I’m very proud especially because of the type of kid Donovan is but I wasn’t surprised,” Rodriguez said. “Schools are starting to take notice and you have to remember he’s so young. He’s also gone thru a growth spurt going from 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-6.
”But he’s such a great kid and just comes from a great family. He’s a wonderful student, is a great teammate and a leader on this team. I’m just happy for him not just because the type of basketball he is but more so because the type of kid he is. Always has a smile on his face, he’s a coaches dream to coach.”
Rodriguez said the biggest thing Johnson needs to work on between now and his senior season is putting time in the weight room and putting on weight to balance out his frame.
Obviously, he has a couple years to make a decision but Johnson says he’ll always keep Duquesne in mind because of them being the first to offer.
