With no NCAA decision on Tez Walker, UNC coach Mack Brown expresses disappointment
Barring a last-minute reprieve by the NCAA, North Carolina wideout Tez Walker will not be allowed to play Saturday in UNC’s season opener in Charlotte.
The No. 21 Tar Heels, who face South Carolina, have been waiting for the NCAA to make a ruling on Walker’s eligibility case. The Charlotte native was denied instant eligibility for the 2023 season by the NCAA as a two-time transfer. but UNC appealed that decision, saying Walker played college football only at one school -- Kent State -- because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Walker took to social media on Friday night, posting a letter Walker said he sent to NCAA president Charles Baker making a personal appeal to allow a waiver. That came a few hours after UNC coach Mack Brown released a statement noting the frustration and futility felt by Walker, his teammates and coaches, and his family in Charlotte.
“I can’t express my disappointment in the NCAA strong enough,” Brown said.
Brown said the NCAA still had time to correct what he called an “egregious error.” The game Saturday at Bank of America Stadium has a 7:30 p.m start, and Brown said this week Walker would be with the team and the Heels would have his uniform, pads and helmet ready in case there was a last-minute resolution by the NCAA.
Walker’s letter to Baker, posted Friday night on his Instagram and X accounts, said he was being denied immediate eligibility for a “technicality” and urged the NCAA president to allow him to pursue his “dream” of playing in his home state and be close to his ailing grandmother in Charlotte.
The NCAA has made the decision to become more restrictive on eligibility waivers for two-time transfers – a decision made a few days after Walker enrolled at UNC in January, believing he would be eligible for the 2023 season.
Walker first enrolled at N.C. Central, only to have the 2020 season canceled because of the COVID pandemic. He then transferred and played his first two seasons of college football at Kent State before transferring to UNC.
Walker’s letter to Baker included a communique Walker said he received Thursday from the NCAA. It said that while NCCU did not play a 2020 season, Walker remained at the school and practiced with the football team in the spring of 2021 before transferring in May 2021 to Kent State.
Walker, in the letter to Baker, said that reasoning “made no sense” and again mentioned that N.C. Central’s 2020 season was canceled for Covid reasons and that he never played in a game.
The letter said: “I appeal to your logic as a man and a leader. Please, review my situation so I can achieve my dream as a student-athlete. Isn’t that what the NCAA is supposed to do? Help student-athletes achieve their dreams?
Walker’s case has created an outpouring of support, with Gov. Roy Cooper among those contacting the NCAA.
Brown, in his statement, said the NCAA has been reluctant to consider the “real issues of mental health, COVID and rule changes that have impacted” Walker’s path to UNC.
“You can’t say you’re about helping kids and then show a total disregard for the kids you’re supposed to be helping,” Brown said. “It’s clear they are about process and not people.”
This story was originally published September 1, 2023 at 6:16 PM.
