South Carolina coach Shane Beamer shows support for ineligible UNC wide receiver
South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer is going to bat for a top transfer who’s battling with the NCAA to secure immediate eligibility for 2023.
Even if that makes things tougher on the Gamecocks.
Speaking with 247Sports’ Brandon Marcello on Wednesday, Beamer said he thinks North Carolina wide receiver Devontez Walker, who had his immediate eligibility waiver denied earlier this month because he’s a two-time transfer, should be allowed to play this season.
Coach Mack Brown and the No. 21 Tar Heels open the season against Beamer’s Gamecocks next Saturday in the Duke’s Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte (7:30 p.m., ABC).
“To me personally, I think it’d be a shame if he wasn’t eligible,” Beamer told Marcello of UNC’s presumed No. 1 wide receiver.
Walker, who goes by Tez, was a first-team All-Mid-American Conference selection at Kent State in 2022 and ranked as the No. 6 transfer portal recruit in the country nationally when he committed to UNC.
Expected to be the new top target for star quarterback and Heisman Trophy contender Drake Maye, Walker was also one of the few transfers named to the All-ACC preseason team in July.
But UNC announced Aug. 8 that the NCAA had denied Walker’s immediate eligibility waiver because he’s transferred twice.
All college football players are allowed to transfer once and be eligible at their new school, but the NCAA passed new legislation Jan. 11 cracking down on two-time transfers (two days after Walker enrolled at UNC).
Walker, a Class of 2020 recruit from West Charlotte High School, enrolled at N.C. Central to start his college career but transferred to Kent State after the Eagles, an FCS school, canceled their season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Walker, who caught 58 passes for 921 yards and 11 TDs as a sophomore last year, said in a statement he transferred from Kent State to UNC to be closer to his grandmother, Loretta Black, who lives in Charlotte and has been struggling with her health. In high school, Walker served as one of her primary caregivers.
The receiver has also talked openly about how physical distance from his ailing grandmother has affected his mental health. Walker told ESPN this week he doesn’t understand why the NCAA, which has made a push in recent years to improve mental health awareness and care for student-athletes, denied his waiver.
“I just feel like it ain’t fair, especially somebody in my situation,” he told ESPN. “They say they stand on mental health. I have the perfect situation and now it’s just like the hell with it, we’re just going to prove a point and deny it. So it’s frustrating, seeing what they’re doing.”
I’m hanging with Shane Beamer today and brought up Tez Walker. South Carolina opens the season against North Carolina. He tells @247Sports he believes the receiver should be allowed to play.
“To me personally, I think it'd be a shame if he wasn't eligible.” https://t.co/Z6scOzy6VS— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) August 23, 2023
UNC appealed the NCAA’s decision on Walker’s behalf and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a UNC alumnus, wrote a letter to NCAA president Charlie Baker in support of Walker. But there’s no timetable for a decision as the Tar Heels and Gamecocks both ramp up preparation for the season opener nine days away, according to Brown.
“We’re pleading with the NCAA to make a decision, because it puts more pressure on the young guy every day,” Brown said Aug. 15, per the News & Observer. “He’s really struggling. I’ve seen him crying after practice. He came over to me and said, ‘Have you heard anything?’ and he does every day.”
“It’s not us. We’ll be able to play if he doesn’t play. We’ll have somebody ready. ... But for him, imagine what he has on the line and the mental health issues and having to wait.”
The North Carolina-South Carolina game is one of the top games on college football’s Week 1 slate and has drawn a visit from ESPN “College GameDay,” the network’s iconic traveling pregame show.
UNC, behind Maye, went 9-5 in 2022, won the ACC Coastal Division and appeared in the conference championship game, where the Tar Heels lost to Clemson.
And USC, behind quarterback Spencer Rattler, beat AP Top 10 Tennessee and Clemson teams in back-to-back teams en route to finishing 8-5 in Beamer’s second season.
North Carolina vs. South Carolina football game, TV info
Who: No. 21 North Carolina vs. South Carolina
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2
Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
TV: ABC
Line: UNC by 1.5 points
