Kamani Johnson to seek waiver from NCAA

UALR forward Kamani Johnson (20) looks for a teammate to pass to during a game against Texas-Arlington on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020, at Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said Thursday that Kamani Johnson, a 6-7 junior transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock, is appealing to the NCAA for a waiver to be eligible to play for the Razorbacks immediately when he joins the team for the spring semester.

“Since I’ve been a part of college basketball, I cannot figure out the waiver situation,” said Musselman, who expressed frustration last year when the NCAA denied Connor Vanover’s appeal. “Because we’ve had as many transfers as anybody in the country and done as many waivers, but have not had great success with it at times.

"But Kamani has indicated to us that he would like to play. His family would like him to play immediately. All you can do is fill out the paperwork to the best of your ability. I have great confidence that from a compliance standpoint we’ll put the paperwork in and just see where it goes.”

The NCAA announced this week it has approved a proposal to allow all transfers immediate eligibility for this season, but Musselman said he believes that applies to players who began the fall semester at their new school, not a mid-year transfer like Johnson.

“When you really start diving into the rule like we have, I think that players that have always been going to a particular school for the first semester, those guys will probably get a blanket waiver,” Musselman said. “Kamani has not taken a class here. I don’t think the rule was necessarily intended for the mid-year guy right now, whether it’s Kamani or across the board.

“But we will put in a waiver and see what happens.”

Musselman said Johnson hasn’t been cleared to practice yet with the Razorbacks as he waits for his grades at UALR to be posted.

“Basically we just wait on compliance to tell us (when Johnson can join the Razorbacks),” Musselman said. “Hopefully soon.”

Johnson averaged 11.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 27.7 minutes last season to help the Trojans win the Sun Belt Conference championship. He hit 144 of 198 free throws.