Mack Brown addresses NCAA's decision to deny Tez Walker waiver, cites mental health

The NCAA ruled against an eligibility waiver for Kent State transfer Tez Walker at North Carolina, meaning he’ll have to sit out the 2023 season before he can play in 2024.

North Carolina isn’t happy about it, with coach Mack Brown laying out a laundry list of reasons why an eligibility waiver was warranted.

For one, Tez Walker has a grandmother with health issues who he transferred to be closer to home for. Second, Walker’s previous transfer from NC Central to Kent State occurred because NC Central canceled the 2020 football season due to COVID-19. Finally, Walker lost several coaches at Kent State after the 2022 season and Kent State has been fully cooperative in recommending an immediate eligibility waiver for Walker.

“This is not the normal situation,” Brown said. “And Kent State is all in and all their coaches left. So we feel like this should be a no-brainer and it’s getting late and there’s tremendous pressure on him and we would like to see him ruled eligible.”

Tez Walker was a star at Kent State in 2022, the kind that would be an immediate upgrade for North Carolina at receiver. He logged 58 catches for 921 yards and 11 touchdowns, while also rushing for one touchdown.

But unless a North Carolina appeal of the NCAA’s decision leads to an overturned ruling, Walker won’t play in 2023.

“He was coming back here to be closer to home, because North Carolina was his dream school, but also his grandmother had never seen him play,” Brown said. “And she was not healthy and she couldn’t go to Kent State to see him play. And now we’re opening up in Charlotte, that’ll be the first time she’ll be able to see him play. She basically was very, very important in raising him and it’s very important in his life that she see him play.”

Brown also harped on the fact that Tez Walker has only played football at one school because NC Central shut down its 2020 season.

That makes Walker’s situation a little more unique.

“Tez has only played football at one school due to circumstances that were out of his control,” Brown said. “So it’s not like he is a normal two-time transfer. He’s played at one school. His first enrollment was deferred because he got hurt. Secondly, they canceled the season, fall and spring, so he wasn’t going to be able to play and that’s why he transferred. He’s not one of these kids that’s transferring every year to get to a different place in his life.”

The North Carolina head coach then went to bat for his player’s mental health. He said Tez Walker’s body language around the facility has been bad since the decision and it’s clearly wearing on him.

Brown put some of that on the NCAA.

“He’s been down. Here he is, he made a decision based on what was best for him that he thought was within the rules and for his grandmother and his family and now we’re sitting here four weeks from gametime and just waiting to see if he’s going to play,” Brown said. “So he has to practice every day not knowing if he’s even going to have an opportunity to play.

“So when we look at what transfer rules are for and we look at the best for mental health, there’s absolutely no doubt that this is a mental health issue for Tez because it’s putting way too much pressure on him, and that’s a major talking point for Charlie Baker, the new NCAA director, which I’m hearing great things about.”

Brown acknowledged that the NCAA is trying to crack down on exceptions for two-time transfers, wanting to get back a bit more toward previous policy over the years.

Still, he said Tez Walker should fit the exceptions list.

“At one time a lot of people were just across the board being given eligibility with transfers,” Brown said. “Now it’s different, they’re trying to be really tight on it. But this is an example we feel fits the transfer rule perfectly.”