It appears North Carolina Tar Heels guard P.J. Hairston has played his last collegiate game. North Carolina released a statement on Friday to acknowledge it would not seek reinstatement for the junior, who hasn't played this season because of NCAA suspension for breaking impermissible benefits rules.
P.J. Hairston isn’t reinstated by North Carolina
The North Carolina athletics program announced it would not reinstate guard P.J. Hairston, who has yet to play this year because of violating rules against impermissible benefits.
Streeter Lecka
Athletic director Bubba Cunningham said it was clear that the school applying for Hairston’s reinstatement “would not be possible.” Coach Roy Williams didn’t duck Hairston’s mistakes in the statement released by the university:
“I am extremely disappointed for P.J., his family and our team as he will no longer be playing basketball at North Carolina,” Williams said. “P.J. made mistakes and I was very disappointed by his actions and now he is suffering the very difficult consequences. He is not a bad kid; he just made some mistakes.
“I will support him and help him as much as I possibly can as he enters this next phase of his life and basketball career.”
The news comes days after the NCAA cleared guard Leslie McDonald to play and said UNC had not filed any other player for reinstatement. Hairston's eligibility came into question over the summer, when the school learned he had driven two rental cars connected to a local club promoter, according to Yahoo! Sports.
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The next move for Hairston, who as a sophomore led the Tar Heels by averaging 14.6 points per game, will likely involve preparing for the NBA draft. As of DraftExpress.com's Dec. 13 update of its 2014 mock draft, Hairston is considered a late first-round draft pick. He has the size at 6'6 to become a solid defender and the shooting chops (39.6 percent from three-point range) to immediately make an impact on an NBA team.
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