Today, Governor Roy Cooper sent a letter to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) President Charlie Baker asking the NCAA to reconsider their recent decision to deny student-athlete Devontez “Tez” Walker’s transfer request. Tez Walker, a student-athlete from Charlotte, North Carolina, intended to transfer from Kent State University to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to be closer to his family and his ailing grandmother.
“This is the first time I have taken such an action, but this is an unusual and compelling case amidst the backdrop of all the major changes happening in the NCAA,” said Governor Cooper in the letter. “Nothing could be bigger or more important to Tez than the opportunity to get one of the finest university educations in the country at UNC and to compete in front of his family in Carolina Blue.”
The NCAA, which has for several years granted “two-time transfers” due to the impacts of COVID-19, suddenly reversed course and denied Tez Walker’s transfer less than a month before the fall football season is scheduled to commence.
The NCAA’s denial of Tez Walker’s transfer waiver is based on a directive that was changed after he had already enrolled at UNC. Tez Walker was two days into spring classes at UNC when the NCAA changed the guidelines on two-time transfers on January 11, 2023. The Governor argues in his letter that NCAA should grandfather student-athletes like Tez under the previous rule.
Tez Walker’s primary reason for his transfer request is so that he can be closer to his family and specifically his ailing grandmother. Tez Walker’s grandmother lives 500 miles from Kent State but is only a two-hour drive from Chapel Hill.
Recognizing the adversity he has faced in his career and his desire to be near his grandmother, the NCAA should not deny his desire to be closer to her in her illness and to share his athletic journey with her.
Read Governor Cooper’s letter.
###