UNC Football: Tez Walker deemed eligible by NCAA

In a battle that has taken far too long to reach its rightful conclusion, the NCAA has finally granted UNC wide receiver Tez Walker’s waiver request and has deemed him eligible to play this season. The start of the season has been a frustrating one for Walker, as he was repeatedly denied eligibility under the new two-time transfer rule while watching the NCAA grant other players the ability to play with similar or even worse claims.

As they do, the NCAA blamed UNC for not providing the information that they ultimately used to grant Walker’s eligibility sooner. The statement from NCAA President Charlie Baker doesn’t actually say what information UNC allegedly withheld from them on the matter, just that it’s their fault it wasn’t handed over and that they are still upset that UNC has been loudly mad about the nonsensical decision.

The great news is that Walker is now eligible to play after a wild sequence of events that eventually brought him to Chapel Hill. It’s extremely unfortunate that it took four games into the season to get here. The NCAA has lost enough credibility in the whole charade that immediately blaming the school is going to be a hard sell for many, but we’ll await any further details on that.

Walker being able to play immediately improves the Tar Heel offense and gives Drake Maye a dangerous weapon at wide receiver. Wherever Carolina ends up this season, it’s likely that the Maye-to-Walker connection is going to be an important one.