Heels Operating on Walker's Behalf and as if He Will Play
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CHAPEL HILL – Forget for a moment that Tez Walker scored 11 receiving touchdowns last season, which was tops in the Mid-American Conference and seventh nationally.
Forget that he is considered a serious NFL prospect, and could play himself into a top-100 spot this fall. And forget that North Carolina needs the Kent State transfer for the Tar Heels to enhance their chance at reaching the state goal of contending for an ACC championship.
For now, what matters is Walker. That is the message UNC is sending, and it’s a pretty convincing one. And it’s why the wide receiver continues in his daily role in practicing with the starting unit, even though there’s a chance the NCAA may shelve him for the entire coming season.
“We’re full speed with him,” UNC offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said Friday. “We feel like we’ve got a great case, and we’re going to let the people that handle that handle that. I just think at the end of the day, you’ve got to make a common-sense decision.”
The case is simple, though not so simple.
Walker has been deemed a “two-time transfer” by the NCAA, and thus unable to perform this season, as he must sit out the campaign as a transfer student, as things were before the portal opened a few years ago allowing one-time transfers immediate eligibility. UNC, however, has filed an appeal
Initially, the NCAA indicated to UNC that Walker’s transfer was fine, so it accepted his commitment and he enrolled in classes for the spring semester on January 9. Two days later, however, the NCAA changed its rule, and has now used that against Walker, deeming him ineligible.
Yet, the points in UNC’s argument are the following:
*Walker, who signed with East Tennessee State out of high school but never matriculated there before the scholarship was not honored after he tore his ACL, spent a year at North Carolina Center.
*Yet, NCCU cancelled its season because of Covid, so Walker transferred to Kent State.
*Walker spent two seasons playing for the Golden Flashes before its coaches left the program, prompting him to go into the portal.
*UNC maintains because NCCU cancelled football, that year shouldn’t count against Walker.
*In addition, Carolina also says since Walker’s grandmother is in ill health, and one reason he transferred closer to home was so he could be near her and she could see him play.
He found out just a few weeks ago, but Walker is being torn apart inside, as he and UNC await the NCAA’s ruling on the appeal the school filed on his behalf.
“He’s down, he’s wondering, he’s anxious, and it’s really, really hard to focus in practice,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said. “And I feel tough for him.”
Walker feels so awful about it, Brown used the words “mental health” multiple times when addressing the media about this last Tuesday. That is the other aspect of Carolina’s case; that the NCAA should do what’s best for the young man, which is allow him to play.
In the meantime, Walker’s struggles have prevalent enough the UNC staff doesn’t shy from speaking about it, with wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway recalling a difficult moment he’d recently experienced with Walker.
“I knew something was wrong, so I was like, ‘What’s wrong?’ He leaned his head on my shoulder and started crying,” Galloway said.
So, UNC has kept Walker as one of its three starting receivers. In part, the staff is confident the NCAA will make the right decision, so when it does, the coaches want Walker, perhaps the team’s best receiver, not having missed a beat. But they have also opted to keep him in that role for his psyche.
“Absolutely, for him and the others around him,” Brown said. “We’ve been open and very direct with it, but he’s really struggling.”
Galloway told a story about recruiting Walker some in 2015 and 2016 wen the coach was at Louisville and Walker was a prep receiver at West Charlotte High School. He said Walker wasn’t a very good student at the time, so Galloway moved on.
But that has changed, and is also part of UNC’s pitch. Walker had a 3.7 GPA at Kent State, and posted a 3.0 at UNC in the spring semester.
So, when Walker’s head rested on Galloway’s shoulder and tears poured from his eyes, what possibly could the coach have told the emotional player?
“That we’re doing everything that we can to make sure that he has not to worry about that problem,” Galloway said. “His focus should be school and football. That’s what his focus should be right now.”
And for UNC, it’s focus is on winning the appeal, keeping Walker’s mind and game right, and having him ready for the crucial opener September 2 versus South Carolina in Walker’s home town, where he hopes his grandmother will finally see him play a college football game in person.
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