South Carolina Football: North Carolina playmaker remains ineligible for tonight’s game
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina football fans have been waiting for over eight months to watch their team in official game action. The Gator Bowl against Notre Dame feels like a lifetime ago, but tonight, the Gamecocks will kick off their 2023 season against the North Carolina Tar Heels in Charlotte. Year 3 of the Shane Beamer era is here.
Yet North Carolina fans have a legitimate reason to complain heading into the Battle of the Carolinas:
Prized transfer wide receiver Tez Walker will be ineligible for the season opener.
Walker began his career at North Carolina Central University but immediately transferred before seeing any game action because the school canceled their football season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He played the 2021 and 2022 seasons at Kent State and transferred to Chapel Hill this offseason with the hope of two more years of eligibility.
The NCAA, however, had other thoughts about Walker’s situation.
Despite not playing at NCCU (for reasons outside of Walker’s control), the NCAA is treating the Charlotte native just like any other two-time transfer and has ruled him ineligible for the 2023 season.
Walker has appealed to the NCAA in hopes that the governing body might reconsider its stance on his ban, but according to an announcement on Friday, it appears the appeal will not be addressed yet, keeping Walker on the sidelines in his hometown.
Mack Brown’s Tar Heels were counting on Walker to be one of the team’s top playmakers at the wide receiver position, potentially as All-American candidate Drake Maye’s top target in the passing game.
Last week, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer advocated for Walker’s eligibility saying that the wide receiver “should be able to play” in the season opener against his team.
As it stands, that won’t happen, and the decision from the NCAA highlights an organization that continues to do a poor job of governing college athletics.
The Gamecocks and Tar Heels will kick off the season at 7:44 on ABC and the ESPN App.
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