NCAA Puts Out Incredibly Lame Statement Over UNC Wide Receiver Tez Walker’s Eligiblity Appeal

Getty Image / John Byrum

The NCAA isn’t a particularly popular organization, as almost every college sports fan has one gripe or another with the governing body. The NCAA makes it too easy to dislike them sometimes, which is exactly what they did when they denied the eligibility waiver for UNC wide receiver Tez Walker.

Walker was a star transfer that was set to be one of the top targets for Heisman contender and projected first-round-pick prospect Drake Maye after coming over from Kent State. But, a late and questionable rule change by the NCAA did him in.

He started his career at North Carolina Central, close to his grandmother, whom he provides care for. Tez Walker never played a snap there due to the COVID pandemic, before transferring to Kent State. Last year he had nearly 1000 yards receiving and was considered one of the best players in the transfer portal.

The first transfer as an undergraduate is without penalty under current NCAA rules. But, the second transfer as an undergraduate is supposed to come with a sit-out of one year. However, the NCAA was granting plenty of waivers for second-time transfers when Tez Walker announced his transfer and enrolled at UNC. Days later, the NCAA announced they were going to crack down on these type of transfers. That set up a lengthy appeals battle that spilled over into the season before the NCAA denied it yesterday. UNC head coach Mack Brown and athletic director Bubba Cunningham put out blistering statements bashing the NCAA yesterday.

The NCAA took a lot of flak yesterday regarding the situation, so they felt the need to put out a statement. It’s incredibly, incredibly lame.

Let the kid play. Nobody is harmed by allowing Tez Walker to play football this year. This only further delegitimizes the NCAA in the eyes of many. Sooner or later, a big university with a lot of political clout like UNC is going to tell the NCAA to pound sand on one of these decisions.