UNC football wide receiver Tez Walker has had his immediate eligibility transfer request denied by the NCAA, and a lot of people are disappointed by it.
One of those people is current North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. Cooper wrote a letter to NCAA President Charlie Baker on behalf of the one-time member of the North Carolina Central football program.
“Nothing could be bigger or more important to Tez than the opportunity to get a fine university education at UNC and to compete in front of his family in Carolina Blue,” Governor Cooper wrote in a tweet on the matter.
A Charlotte native, Walker started his college career at NCCU back in 2020. He had planned on going to East Tennessee State, but an ACL injury dried up his offers. NCCU came around but timing was against Walker as NCCU didn’t compete in the fall of 2020 or spring of 2021 due to COVID-19, and Walker ended up transferring to Kent State. Waker compiled 63 receptions for 1,045 yards and 12 touchdowns over his two seasons. Most of those came as a sophomore as he caught 58 passes for 921 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022.
Tez Walker decided to transfer to UNC football following the season, primarily for family reasons.
“The first, and main, reason I decided to transfer from Kent St. was the stress and anxiety I was feeling being away from home, while my grandmother deals with health issues,” Walker wrote in a letter to the NCAA. “She is my rock, my everything, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without her. She took care of me when I was younger and being away from her and the rest of my family was very challenging and hard to deal with. It’s meant the world to us to be in the same area, where she’s just a short drive away and I have far more opportunities to be with her. There is also the added bonus that she would be able to see me play college football in person for the first time, since she wasn’t able to travel during my time at Kent St.”
UNC football kicks off its season on Sept. 2 as it takes on South Carolina at Bank of America Stadium.