HOUSTON —Brice Johnson is a large reason why the North Carolina men’s basketball team will compete in the national championship Monday night against Villanova.
He’s a first-team All-American. He’s improved dramatically from his junior season in every major category: scoring, rebounding, free-throw shooting, blocking and stealing. He’s having an all-time great season for a North Carolina player.
He’s the first Tar Heel to grab 400-plus rebounds in a season — breaking Tyler Hansbrough’s 399 mark from 2008 — and is a top-10 rebounder and blocker in UNC history.
As senior point guard Marcus Paige put it, Johnson is “the head of the snake” that is the 2016 UNC men’s basketball team.