La Salle freshman has Penn roots

For Paul Johnson, tonight's game was a big deal, even before he arrived at La Salle this past fall.

Then again, Johnson is not your average freshman on a Big 5 team -- he comes to the City Series with a considerable history.

Johnson's father, Henry, played for Penn from 1973 to 1977. The 6-foot-11 center manned the paint for the Quakers at a time when they were right between two of the program's most celebrated eras -- the Bilsky-Wohl team of the early 1970s and the 1979 Final Four team. He won two Ivy League titles and two Big 5 titles, one outright and one in a tie with Temple.

So when it came time for Paul to choose where to go to school after playing for Gonzaga High School, one of the top teams in Washington D.C., Henry had a considerable rooting interest. So did his wife, Melinda Herrion, also a Penn graduate.

The choice came down to Penn and La Salle, and, despite his bloodlines, Paul chose North Philadelphia over University City.

Now, he gets to face his parents' alma mater for the first time.

"My dad's been on the case about this game since I decided to come to La Salle, so it's a big deal. But I think he's going to be rooting for me, even though he's a Penn grad."

Henry admitted that tonight will bring "mixed emotions -- my head is still with Penn but my heart's with my son at La Salle."

Still, Henry has made peace with Paul's choice. "This was Paul's decision, and I'm happy for him."

This evening will certainly bring back a lot of memories of the Big 5's heyday.

Henry recalled "the old days, throwing streamers out after the first basket, ... [and] the crowd -- it's crazy, once the game is a good game, up and down, and you have a full house."

He also couldn't help acknowledging one other well-known aspect of the Palestra atmosphere after he attended the La Salle-Saint Joseph's game Saturday.

"It's hot in here, as it always was," he said.

Henry will likely get to see his son play quite a bit tonight. Paul is averaging 20.1 minutes per game and has started all but one of his team's 16 contests this season. Though he is only averaging 6.6 points per game, he is pulling down a respectable 3.5 rebounds.

Paul has also gained some recognition on campus, but he downplayed the idea that he's a celebrity.

"A couple people know who I am, but I'm trying to not let any kind of attention like that get to my head," he said. "The main thing is trying to get focused because there's a lot of the season left."

Still, Johnson has left an impression on fans in La Salle's two games at the Palestra this year, throwing down impressive dunks against Drexel and Saint Joseph's.

It hasn't taken him long to gain the same kind of admiration that his father has for the famed arena.

"It's amazing," Paul said. "Your first time up and down the court, no matter how many times you play in there, you still lose your breath."

There's a good chance that the same will happen again tonight -- and an even better chance that, for both generations of the Johnson family, it will be plenty hot in the Palestra.

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