PORTLAND, Ore. — D’Angelo Russell and Stanley Johnson were so good on the high school circuit, they created their own club.
“We’re part of the Bucket Team Association,” Russell said Friday. “Throughout the summer we got buckets so we created our own little association. We had a little handshake and we were just real comfortable with each other.”
This isn’t your average club, though. You have to be quite the player to be included. Some other members are Duke’s Jahlil Okafor, Indiana’s James Blackmon Jr., Kentucky’s Devin Booker and Kansas’ Kelly Oubre. It’s the best of the best in the class of 2014.
Perhaps it’s no surprise then that Russell and Johnson are both members as each has starred for their respective team this year as true freshmen.
Russell leads Ohio State in scoring and rebounding while also being second in assists. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and has been on numerous first-team All-American lists.
At Arizona, Johnson is the leading scorer on his team and is second in rebounding. He, like Russell, was named as a conference freshman of the year.
Today they’ll go head-to-head with a berth in the Sweet 16 on the line.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a D’Angelo-Stanley matchup, it’s going to be more of an Ohio State-Arizona so I wouldn’t dwell on that,” Russell said. “I’m definitely looking forward to the game.”
It’s not the first time these two have went head-to-head, either. In fact, they’ve been playing together/against each other since the fifth or sixth grade.
“The first time I ever played against D’Angelo, we didn’t even know we were playing against each other,” Johnson said.
Russell recalls his first real memory of Johnson back when the two were at a camp during the summer heading into their freshman year of high school.
“He was bigger than everybody,” Russell recalled. “It was like a Top 20 All-Star game and it was like my first camp but he had his USA gear on. Everybody knew who he was.”
Everybody knew back then about Johnson and they still do. Everybody also knows about Russell, as well.
“When you’re doing the stuff that he’s doing on a national level, I don’t have to look for him. I’m gonna find him on TV on ESPN,” Johnson said. “He’s doing a great job this year with all of his accomplishments that he’s had so far. He’s a tremendous player and he’s been like that since we were younger so it’s no surprise to me what he’s doing.”
The two are good friends and have remained in contact throughout this season. "That's my man," Russell says.
There hasn't been any talk between the two of them since Thursday, though, when they found out they would be going head-to-head. They're too competitive for that.
Both Russell and Johnson figured this day would likely come. They had a feeling they would cross paths at some point in college. Today is that day.
“When you’re that caliber of player, we’re going to see each other all the time,” Johnson said. “It won’t be the first time and hopefully not the last time we see each other.”
