UNC coach Mack Brown blasts NCAA after it denies eligibility for All-ACC transfer Devontez Walker: ‘Shame on you’

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The NCAA on Thursday denied 2023 eligibility for North Carolina wide receiver Devontez Walker, drawing pointed criticism from UNC and head coach Mack Brown.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever been more disappointed in a person, a group of people, or an institution than I am with the NCAA right now,” Brown wrote in a statement. “It’s clear that the NCAA is about process and it couldn’t care less about the young people it’s supposed to be supporting.

Walker, a junior, transferred to North Carolina this offseason from Kent State. The transfer was his second after he initially signed a letter of intent to play for East Tennessee State as a freshman.

The NCAA on Jan. 11 voted to tighten rules for two-time transfers requiring them to “adequately document a personal need for medical or safety reasons to depart the previous school” to be eligible to play the season that they transfer. Walker made his decision to transfer on Jan. 9.

The NCAA initially ruled Walker ineligible on Aug. 8. Walker and UNC appealed the decision with a statement from Walker that he transferred to be near his ailing grandmother.

“The first and main reason I decided to transfer from Kent State was the stress and anxiety I was feeling being away from my home while my grandmother deals with health issues,” Walker’s statement read. “She is my rock, my everything, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without her.”

Walker also wrote that he transferred believing that he would be eligible because he did so two days before the NCAA voted to change its rules.

“”When I made the decision to transfer from Kent St. back to my home area at UNC, I did so thinking I would be able to play this year. The way the rules were set up at the time, we knew we’d have to file a waiver as a two-time transfer, and in previous years, those waivers were being granted.”

Walker sat North Carolina’s season-opening win over South Carolina as UNC waited for the NCAA’s appeal decision, which dropped Thursday. Brown slammed the NCAA for the denial in a…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/unc-coach-mack-brown-blasts-ncaa-after-it-denies-eligibility-for-all-acc-transfer-devontez-walker-shame-on-you-202245527.html?src=rss

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-09-07 20:22:45

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