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CHAPEL HILL – Five days before North Carolina plays an actual football game, it still doesn’t know if it will have wide receiver Tez Walker available.
Walker and UNC are awaiting the next step in the appeals process they hope reslts in the Kent State transfer's immediate eligibility for this season. The NCAA declared him ineligible around a month ago as a “two-time transfer,” even though Walker has technically played for just one school that had an official season.
He started his college career at North Carolina Central, but transferred after NCCU didn’t have play any games in 2020 (or spring 2021) due to Covid. Walker played two seasons for the Golden Flashes before transferring to UNC.
The NCAA passed the current rule January 11, and even though Walker enrolled at Carolina on January 9, yet the rule is still being applied to him.
“We still haven’t heard anything from the NCAA on Tez,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said Monday during his weekly press conference ahead of the Tar Heels’ season-opener Saturday night versus South Carolina in Charlotte.
“We’re hoping to hear something, at least in the process and the time table, today. At this point, it’s very difficult for him and for us because we’re not sure of his statis for Saturday.”
Brown made a public plea to the NCAA and new President Charlie Baker two weeks ago. The school has pulled back some on that of late, allowing the process to play itself out. The frustration remains clear, especially with the uncertainty.
Updates are hard to come by for Brown, as so much remains in limbo between North Carolina and the NCAA.
“Our compliance is handling the Tez process completely,” Brown said. “They keep us updated daily. They're in the process of trying to get him in contact with this committee this week, so they can either talk to him or he can present what he feels like is another reason for him to have an opportunity to play.
“We don’t have any idea if they will respond to that. So, we’re just waiting.”
UNC is hoping Walker will have an opportunity this week to make some kind of case to a committee at the NCAA, but lining up something like that can be quite challenging.
As a result, Walker is five days away from playing in a game or watching his teammates play without him, yet he has no clue if he will be allowed on the field. It’s affecting him, as Walker didn’t practice well Sunday and was really down afterward.
“Lonnie Galloway and I met with (Walker) after practice and said, ‘Look, man, you've got to prepare to play. Because if they tell you Saturday at 3:30 you're gonna play, you gotta go play. You don't want to be in a position where you're not ready to play, and you don't want to be in a position where you may get hurt because you're not out there in the right mindset,'" Brown said.
“We’ve told him, ‘You plan on playing. We’re gonna plan on playing you.’ What’s we’re going to have to do is just have two game plans: We’ve got to have a game plan with him and one without him.”
Walker can travel to the game with the team. He cannot dress in the uniform if he’s not eligible, but they will bring his uniform and pads in case he gets cleared near game time.
As for the UNC staff, they must dot their Is and cross their Ts on this.
“What we've got to do is have two game plans,” Brown said. “We've got to have a game plan with (Walker) and one without him. And that makes it difficult because you want your quarterback to be throwing to the guys he's going to throw to in the game, and we're not sure who he's going to be throwing to.”
If precedent matters, perhaps Carolina will get positive news from the NCAA before long.
Consider that Colorado running back Sy’veon Wilkerson was cleared late last week by the NCAA in a similar situation, and he can now play this week for the Buffaloes. Wilkerson began his college career at Delaware State carrying the ball 220 times in 2021.
He then participated in spring practice as a walk-on at West Virginia in 2022 but left for Jackson State without ever playing for the Mountaineers. He played one season under Deion Sanders at JSU (was All-SWAC after rushing for 1,152 yards) before following Sanders last winter to Colorado.
Not yet a college graduate, Wilkerson is at his fourth school, and third he will have represented in a game when Colorado kicks off its season this weekend.
As for now, UNC remains optimistic Walker will be cleared, but has also begin preparing for not having him.
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