North Carolina’s football team had hoped to hear good news today from the NCAA, namely that wide receiver Tez Walker had cleared the eligibility hurdle that kept him out of week one against South Carolina.
Only the news released by the NCAA was sour for the Tar Heels. Walker’s appeal has been turned down. He will not be eligible to play this season but has two years of eligibility remaining.
UNC football coach Mack Brown issued a scathing message to the NCAA on Thursday afternoon (complete statement pictured below):
“I don’t know that I’ve ever been more disappointed in a person, a group of people, or an institution than I am with the NCAA right now,” Brown said. “It’s clear that the NCAA is about process and it couldn’t care less about the young people it’s supposed to be supporting. Plain and simple, the NCAA has failed Tez and his family and I’ve lost all faith in its ability to lead and govern our sport. They’ve messed so many things up as it relates to college football, and now their failures have negatively impacted the life of one of our own.”
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At issue is a new NCAA rule that requires second-time undergraduate transfers to sit out a year before being eligible for to play.
Walker, a Charlotte native, originally committed to East Tennessee State out of high school. He suffered a knee injury, never played there and sat out a season. He then enrolled at North Carolina Central but COVID canceled the Eagles’ 2020 campaign. Walker’s first official transfer took him to Kent State, where he played in 20 games during 2021 and 2022 (earning first-team all-conference last year).
Walker’s second transfer came after the ’22 season when he committed to UNC. He enrolled in classes on Jan. 9. The NCAA adopted new rules regarding second-time transfers to days later.
“When I made the decision to transfer from Kent St. back to my home area at UNC, I did so thinking I would be able to play this year,” Walker said in a statement in early August. “The way the rules were set up at the time, we knew we’d have to file a waiver as a two-time transfer, and in previous years, those waivers were being granted.”
Walker first learned that he would be ineligible right after ACC media days in late summer. The appeal of that decision was heard today (Thursday, Sept. 7), where Walker learned he would have to wait until 2024 to see the field. He has two more years of eligibility left.
Walker and the UNC football community believed the NCAA would rule favorably due to extenuating circumstances. Namely, Walker had only played for one team (Kent State) due to injuries and COVID and that, for mental health reasons, he wanted to move closer to his Charlotte home. In the end, the NCAA ruled differently.
According to UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham, neither NC Central nor Kent State had objections to Walker being deemed immediatley eligible.
“The NCAA had an opportunity to demonstrate that this is a new membership organization by using common sense, reason and compassion to determine the eligibility of Tez Walker,” Cunningham said in a statement. “On eight different occasions, the organization had the opportunity to demonstrate it can make sound and reasonable decisions in the best interest of student-athletes based on individual circumstances. Instead, the NCAA made a maddening, frustrating and wrong decision — for Tez, for college football and for college athletics.”
UNC will take a 1-0 record – and maybe an extra dose of fire for their teammate – into Saturday’s home opener against Appalachian State.
“Moving forward, our Carolina family is strong and we need to wrap our arms around Tez, lift him up, and make sure we continue to do all we can to support him,” Brown said to conclude his statement. “He’s continued to work, on the field and off, and remained an amazing member of our program throughout this ordeal. I know that will continue to happen because that’s the kind of person he is. Despite this setback, Tez’s future remains bright and we’ll continue to do everything we can to help him fulfill all of his dreams. Shame on you, NCAA. SHAME ON YOU!”
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Full statement from UNC AD Bubba Cunningham
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Statement From The NCAA After Tez Walker Ruling
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