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Tyrone Johnson - not meant to see the floor for Carolina this season until after the semester ends on December 16 - will be immediately available to play for the Gamecocks, according to a release by the university just a few minutes ago.
Though Johnson did not play a minute for Villanova during the regular season in the first half of last year before he transferred to USC, the NCAA had previously ruled that he would be ineligible for the first semester of this season because he played 9 minutes in an exhibition game last year for the Wildcats.
Due to Johnson's unavailability and Bruce Ellington's time with the football program, Frank Martin rolled out a schedulethat only included five games prior to December 16, to give his team as many games as possible with multiple point guards. Prior to Johnson being ruled eligible, the only true point guard the Gamecocks planned to suit up this afternoon was Duane Notice.
Carolina and Longwood tip off in about an hour to start the season. The game is not on television.