[pearbear]

Official word: Erika Johnson has been granted her release from the team and will be transferring to another program.

Viet Nguyen
Staff Writer

[BearPedz]

any details? D1? I liked what little we saw of her, and I thought her game would have developed nicely under our coaches.

[calbearsfan]

they announced it during the chalk talk before the game and siad she wanted to be closer to home in Seattle and of course more playing time. She apparently loved Cal and her coaches/teamates so i would guess it was more to do with playing time. I wonder since she was recruited by Coach Boyle and her staff if they might have told her that she would play alot then when Coach G took over she found she woull not be playing much

[OBear073akaSMFan]

That's too bad..though I'm not surprise that someone would leave because of playing time. I was surprise though for her..since she was exciting to be able to get into the Engineering school at Cal. Was she actual accepted into the Engineering school or was it hoping to apply there? Best of luck to Erika! I think she is the type of table setters you need on a team that will make everyone better.

[SanseiBear]

I spoke to Erika's parents who are wonderful people when the team was in Hawaii. I believe her mom is a civil engineer while her dad is in construction management which might explain why Erika is leaning in that direction. She'll be a success in life, no doubt. Erika, thanks for being a Bear!

[dtrain34]

The quick-out... whether for good reasons or bad, whether its Erika, Gary Franklin with Cal's men last year or Jabari Brown with Oregon's men this year.... always bugs me.

The NCAA needs to create a "one free transfer" rule, without mandated redshirting. That's what leads to this: unhappy kids want to bail after one semester so they can become eligible to play next December, rather than sit out an entire year. If one free transfer without penalty were allowed, I bet some kids would find the second half of the season at their original school more to their liking and might not leave after all.

Absolutely nothing against Erika, she's a great kid. It's the need to move now or sit until Fall of 2013 that concerns me.

[bearchamp]

With all the corruption that is well known in college sports, one cannot seriously expect a "one free transfer" rule. The money around bigtime programs will flow under the table to recruit accomplished athletes to use their "one free transfer". The point of requiring an athlete to sit out a year is to discourage transfer and avoid the problems which will arise from easy transfer. Frankly, a female basketball player transferring for "playing time" demonstrates a lack of maturity both in choosing the first school and valuing education. The academics should be paramount. EJ may be a good kid and all that, but this is a foolish, short-sided decision unless she transfers to a very good school.

[Schroeder71]

Why didn't she ever get a chance to play? I will not name any players but she appeared to be more athletic than a couple of her teammates and was the only 6'1" SF on the roster... She looked to be a Greif type of player that made others better. She was not concerned about scoring but helping the team win.

If she's truly gone, use that scholarship for someone that can shoot the rock for goodness sakes.
Cal is going to become infamous for its poor shooting if it doesn't recruit some deadeye offensive players. GO BEARS!



____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________

Originally Posted by pearbear

Official word: Erika Johnson has been granted her release from the team and will be transferring to another program.

Viet Nguyen
Staff Writer

[BearBint]

Originally Posted by Schroeder71

Why didn't she ever get a chance to play?...She looked to be a Greif type of player that made others better.

Erika is not as mature a player as L.G. was in her freshman year, but she is certainly talented, and I had hopes for her; we could use a good generalist. Transferring after so short a time is--kind of immature, and yet I understand that it's hard to go from being the biggest fish in the pool to a bench player who only gets to play during garbage time. I wish Lindsay had tried starting her once or twice--it might have made a difference in Erika's attitude and self-confidence.

[wvitbear]

didn't have one skill that could get her into the rotation. If she could have shot better than maybe more playing time. But she was not better than Afure or Lindsey. She may have matured to be a better ball player but she was not right now.

[stu]

I'm really disappointed to hear Erika will be leaving us. I would love to have seen her get some playing time at the four spot, where I think she could have contributed right away. Also, as a physics major I feel the loss of a kindred spirit. Erika, we all wish you the best!

[BearPedz]

ESPNHoopGurlz Chris Hansen / ESPN
Freshman forward Erica Johnson is visiting North Carolina this weekend after leaving Cal at the break.

I'm confused I thought she wanted to be closer to her family?

[dtrain34]

With all the corruption that is well known in college sports, one cannot seriously expect a "one free transfer" rule. The money around bigtime programs will flow under the table to recruit accomplished athletes to use their "one free transfer".

I would contend that what you suggest is happening already and made worse by the fact that students bail on their teams in mid-season. Gary Franklin was an AAU vagabond pre-college and tore off his Cal jersey at the first sign of "I don't like it here." Jabari Brown at U of O.... two games??? I see the handiwork of others pushing these kids to "get out while you can" so they'll be ready for their new schools conference schedules next season.

If they could stay the whole year knowing they could move without penalty if things didn't get better -- remember they blow the year of eligibility anyway when they leave at the semester or earlier -- more would likely finish the season and gain some maturity. I've coached and can think of a number of guys who were nailed to the bench first semester but ultimately earned a bigger role as the season rolled along. Erika, for example, will never know what might have happened at Cal in January, Febraury and March.

Besides, the NCAA has already softened its hard line on this rule, at least in the women's game. Kellie McCann-Smith had solid family reasons to leave Nebraska for UW, but Taelor Karr at Gonzaga had basically clashed with the Kansas State coach who told her to take a hike. Both are playing without a redshirt this year.

Once that door has been opened, every "hardship" in the world is going to be trotted out anyway, why not just say everyone can do it once?

Back to Erika: North Carolina WAS one of her four finalists when she committed to Cal, along with UW and Louisville.

[BearPedz]

Re Twitter:
ESPNHoopGurlz Chris Hansen / ESPN
Seattle-native Erika Johnson who started her freshman year at Cal has decided to transfer to North Carolina while on a visit this weekend.

Again, sad to see her go. Hopefully she will find success at NC.

[OBear073akaSMFan]

Originally Posted by BearPedz

Re Twitter:
ESPNHoopGurlz Chris Hansen / ESPN
Seattle-native Erika Johnson who started her freshman year at Cal has decided to transfer to North Carolina while on a visit this weekend.

Again, sad to see her go. Hopefully she will find success at NC.

Guess wanting to play nearer to home wasn't the issue. You can see she had potential but if you looked at her play..she still played like a wide eyes freshman..kind of tentatively. Wonder with Foo out if she would had gotten more of an opportunity to had played this weekend. Instead coach had to bring Mikayla in to the 3 to relieve Lindsay.