Mack Brown sends strong message to NCAA in response to Tez Walker situation

North Carolina coach Mack Brown is calling for the NCAA to do the right thing regarding the situation with transfer receiver Tez Walker. The NCAA recently denied Walker’s transfer waiver as it will be the second transfer of his college career, meaning he’ll have to sit out this season.

However, looking at the specific circumstances surrounding Walker’s transfer, many believe an exception should be made. The Charlotte native made the decision this offseason to transfer to Chapel Hill to be closer to his grandmother, who is battling illness and had never been able to see him play in person while he was at Kent State the past two years.

Just two days after he enrolled at UNC on Jan. 11, the NCAA released a revised set of guidelines intended to complicate the process of acquiring immediate eligibility for multi-time transfers that haven’t graduated yet.

Brown delivered a passionate plea to the NCAA to reverse the decision at his press conference Tuesday, citing the impact it has had on Walker’s mental health. The Tar Heels have still yet to hear back from the NCAA after appealing the transfer waiver denial.

“We have a committee that sits up there that never talks to Tez,” Brown said. “Never talks to his grandmother. Never talks to our doctors. Never talks to the mental health people on our campus. Never talks to our chaplain, who Tez talks to every day and feels really guilty that he’s brought negative attention to our program, which he shouldn’t. But he does and he’s really struggling. I see him crying after practice. He came over to me and said, ‘have you heard anything?’ and he does every day.”

Walker’s college journey began with a commitment to East Tennessee State in 2019, but he never set foot on campus after suffering a knee injury in his senior season of high school. He later transferred to NC Central but again never played for the school as the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID.

That led him to transfer to Kent State, where he spent the past two seasons. So while Walker has technically transferred multiple times, Brown argued that his injury and the season being canceled in 2020 should not count.

Furthermore, Walker’s head coach and position coach at Kent State both left for other jobs this offseason. Kent State has been supportive of Walker gaining immediate eligibility as well.

“If you look at it, No. 1 he’s only played at one school,” Brown said. “That’s different than a lot of these other guys. He’s only played at Kent State. The second thing, and maybe most importantly, is that the school that the young man transfers from writes a letter that says they agreed that he needed to transfer for his mental health. Kent State did that. Most of these guys that are out there, the school that they’re leaving didn’t want them to leave. Kent State understood.

“He lost his head coach. He lost his position coach. He lost his offensive coordinator and his grandmother hasn’t seen him play. So he comes here thinking he’s gonna play and they change the rule two days after he enrolled in school, which is not fair to him either. He didn’t have all the information in transferring.”

Under the NCAA’s new set of guidelines, a mental health condition is one of the exceptions that can grant players with multiple transfers immediate eligibility. Walker would seem to fit that criteria based on the situation with his grandmother. Brown saw firsthand just how important it was for the receiver to see her at the spring game, where she and several other family members showed up in support.

“As I look at it, I see a mental health issue,” Brown said. “I see it at the highest level and I can’t imagine that some committee that’s sitting up in Indianapolis with doors closed that has never met this kid doesn’t have to step up and really look at mental health if we’re really worried about student-athlete welfare like we say we are. …I’m banking on (NCAA president) Charlie Baker. If we are changing, it’s time to change and I’m banking on him stepping up and changing because it’s what’s best for this young man.

“It’s not about us. He is a good player, but if I say that I’m gonna take care of every player and treat them like I’d want my son to be treated, that’s what I’m trying to do in this situation. Tez needs to be able to play. That’s the only fair thing for him and people need to stand up for it because that’s an area we need to get changed. So let’s do what’s right for the NCAA. Let’s don’t say we care about student welfare and let’s don’t say we care about mental health unless we do. Here’s a great opportunity to show that we do.”

It’s unclear at this point what the timetable is for the NCAA to make a decision of UNC’s appeal of Tez Walker’s transfer waiver denial. The Tar Heels kick off the 2023 season in a little less than three weeks on Sept. 2 against South Carolina.