Nuns in Pittsburgh backing Phoenix Suns in NBA Finals because of Cam Johnson connection
Cam Johnson #CamJohnson
Silver-haired nuns, living at a small convent in the Pittsburgh suburbs, have become big fans of the Phoenix Suns.
“There are a couple of us who haven’t missed a game,” said Sister Mary Francine, who admits she didn’t know much about the NBA until recently. “The only reason I am following the Suns is that I know Cam Johnson.”
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the Catholic high school where Johnson played his final two seasons, is on the same campus as the Felician Sisters’ convent. Some of the nuns work at the school that serves a few hundred students. Amy Johnson, Cam’s mother, works as the school nurse, which the sisters say allows them to get inside updates on “the boys” — referring to Johnson and his younger brother Puff, a sophomore on the North Carolina team and graduate of Phoenix’s Hillcrest Prep.
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Sister Mary Francine remembers the day former Pittsburgh men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon responded to a request from the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart basketball coach to visit the small gym as Johnson worked to perfect his 3-point shot.
“It was shortly after that when he received the invitation to go to Pitt,” Sister Mary Francine said.
Johnson spent three seasons, including a redshirt year, at Pitt and, after graduating, transferred to North Carolina where he played his final two seasons. When he was drafted in June 2019, he became the first product of OLSH to earn a professional sports contract.
Sister Mary Francine, a noted sports fan who once threw out the first pitch at a Pittsburgh Pirates game, has followed him the whole way.
Sister Mary Sharon was a college basketball fan in Connecticut before moving to Pittsburgh. She was quick to shift her focus to the Suns once she learned of the connection.
“We sit at the TV from 9 o’clock until midnight, usually midnight is when it is done,” Sister Mary Francine said. “We felt bad the other night when they won and did all the interviews. They all got their hats and shirts and he couldn’t be there.”
Johnson missed Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals with a stomach virus.
Not all of them watch the games, but the 10 sisters all know about Johnson and his role on the Suns.
In 60 games this season, he is averaging 9.6 points and 1.2 assists.
If you are hoping for photos of orange and purple clad nuns, you won’t find them — though the school’s colors are purple and gold. Sister Mary Francine said the reason is simple.
“Where would I get Phoenix Suns gear in Pittsburgh?” she said.
When Johnson found out about this small fan club, he said it was “awesome”.
“I did go to a Catholic school and the convent was right next door, so the nuns would come and go sometimes and some of them were more involved than others,” he said. “But my mom was a school nurse there for a lot of years and so she had some relationships with them and they’re very nice, very nice. Very sweet. So that’s really awesome.”
As for a finals prediction, they agree it will be the Suns lifting the trophy.
“Suns of course,” Sister Mary Francine said. “It can’t be any other way.”
Reach the reporter at emily.horos@azcentral.com or 602-444-2426. Follow her on Twitter @ejhoros.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Nuns in Pittsburgh backing Phoenix Suns in NBA Finals because of Cam Johnson connection