Pitt's Cameron Johnson headed to North Carolina as grad transfer

Pittsburghgraduate transfer Cameron Johnson told ESPN on Tuesday that he has chosen to attend North Carolina, despite restrictions from his previous school that prevent him from playing immediately at another ACC institution.

Johnson, who averaged 11.9 points per game last season and graduated in three years from Pittsburgh, told ESPN he has a 3.9 GPA.

"North Carolina is the best fit for me," said Johnson, who also took visits in the spring to Kentucky, Arizona, Oregon and UCLA. "I like Coach [Roy] Williams, the players, the area. I have family in the area."

Johnson said he will head to Chapel Hill soon. He is optimistic he will be able to play for the Tar Heels -- who defeated Gonzaga on April 3 to win their sixth national championship in program history -- for the next two years.

"It's still in limbo, but Coach Williams and the staff are confident I will be able to play next year at North Carolina," he told ESPN. "I trust them."

Pittsburgh explained its stance on Johnson's transfer options in a statement, according to the News & Observer, which addressed Johnson's dilemma in a story last month.

"Cameron Johnson and his father were informed of our policy as well as the appeals process when they elected to seek to transfer. They went through our transfer appeals process and were granted permission to contact ACC schools; however, the committee upheld the policy to limit immediate eligibility within the conference.

"If Cameron were to transfer within the ACC, he would be eligible to receive financial aid immediately but would have to sit out a year of competition due to standard NCAA transfer regulations. Throughout this process, we have remained consistent to our department policy and we will continue to do so."

Johnson, in a letter to the Charlotte Observer, contends that Pitt's initial grant of transfer combined with an NCAA bylaw on grad transfers, should afford him immediate eligibility.

"On June 2nd, I was informed that the NCAA had determined that Pitt's attempt to make me 'serve a year of residence prior to being eligible for competition' does not apply to graduate transfers, per bylaw 14.6.1. According to the NCAA, this bylaw means graduate transfers must either be immediately eligible or totally denied from attending a school. Having already won the right to 'immediately receive athletically related financial aid' from an ACC institution at my appeal hearing, I believe, as does my family's legal counsel, that I should be immediately eligible at North Carolina.

"Unfortunately, Pitt has continued to try and block my wish to attend North Carolina," Johnson continued in the letter. "Now that I have learned that that their attempt to make me sit a year before competing at an ACC school is against NCAA rules, I see no reason why the faculty committee, or anybody associated with Pitt, should be able to reverse a ruling they already made."

Pittsburgh responded in a statement Tuesday night.

"The University of Pittsburgh followed the NCAA processes and our institutional policies as they are written," the school's athletics department said, according to The Associated Press. "The NCAA is currently evaluating the graduate transfer rule and its application to this situation. We are awaiting their response."

Johnson could help replace the scoring load vacated by the loss of Justin Jackson, who left early for the NBA. The Tar Heels also lost plenty up front -- with seniors Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks graduating, and freshman Tony Bradley deciding to leave after one season in a reserve role.

"There's an opportunity, and that factored in," Johnson said. "To have a big role. They lost a lot from a very good team. I think I can help them."