Tez Walker Transfer Waiver Denied, UNC Waiting On Appeal

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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina junior wide receiver Tez Walker recently learned the NCAA had denied his transfer waiver from Kent State, citing a rule change that went into effect after Walker had originally been cleared by the NCAA and enrolled at UNC in January, Carolina Coach Mack Brown announced following practice Tuesday.

Walker, who had 58 receptions for 921 yards and 11 touchdowns last season at Kent State, entered the transfer portal in December and soon after committed to the Tar Heels. He enrolled into school January 9. Yet, the NCAA passed a rule regarding “two-time transfers” on January 11, which ultimately retroactively made Walker ineligible.

At issue is the following:

*Walker, who is from Charlotte, originally signed with East Tennessee State out of high school for the class of 2019, but he suffered a knee injury before arriving, and the scholarship was deferred. So, he never enrolled at ETSU.

*Walker then enrolled at North Carolina Central in Durham, but NCCU cancelled its football season in 2020 and didn’t field a team the following spring, as many FCS programs across the country did.

*Walker transferred to Kent State where he played two seasons, including last fall in which he was first-team All-MAC.

“Under the rules, when Tez transferred, he was enrolled and he met the criteria for a transfer to be automatically eligible,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said Tuesday. “On January 9th he transferred, on January 11th they changed the rule and said it was going to be more difficult for two-time transfers.”

The NCAA indicated approval of his waiver at that time, but that was before it changed the rule, retroactively aligning Walker to where it was then denied.

“Tez has only played football at one school, and should be considered a one-time transfer,” Brown said.

Walker learned of the news a couple of weeks ago, and continues practicing with the team in advance of its season opener September 2 versus South Carolina in Charlotte. UNC is appealing the decision, with part of its defense of Walker that he really only played at one previous school, so he shouldn’t be considered a two-time transfer, which would require him sitting out a season before being eligible.

“We’re trying to secure his immediate eligibility,” Brown said. “He’s a two-time transfer, we submitted the waiver, and the waiver was denied. We filed an appeal. We’re waiting to hear back.”

The frustration for Brown is clear, especially given the NCAA has granted most waiver requests in recent years. But there is also optimism it will work out in his favor.

“We feel very, very good moving forward that the NCAA will look at this and understand this isn’t a normal case of a ‘double-transfer’ and they will go ahead and accept the appeal and let him be able to play when we open up for the season,” Brown said.

Not at issue are accrued class credits or grades. Kent State has been trying to help UNC and Walker and even wrote a letter to the NCAA on Walker’s behalf.

“We feel like this should be a no-brainer,’ Brown said. “It’s getting late, and there’s tremendous pressure on him, and we would like to see him ruled eligible.”

There is no time table for when the NCAA will rule on UNC’s appeal.

Stay with THI as we will soon post video of what Brown had to say Tuesday as well as wide receiver coach Lonnie Galloway. And stay with THI as we continue to move this story forward.