North Carolina receiver Devontez Walker said Tuesday he is frustrated he still has no answer about whether he will be able to play this season as he awaits an NCAA decision on his appeal.
Earlier this month, North Carolina announced Walker had his waiver to play denied, the result of new legislation passed in January making it more difficult for two-time transfers to have waivers approved. North Carolina appealed on his behalf but has been given no timetable on when his case will be heard. The season kicks off in 10 days against South Carolina in Charlotte.
“It’s frustrating,” Walker told ESPN in his first public comments since his waiver was denied. “It’s B.S. I don’t know how I will feel throughout the season if I’m not able to play.”
The appeal will be heard by a committee of representatives from Division I schools. The committee will then make a decision and present it to the NCAA. North Carolina has asked to present its case to the committee in a teleconference so Walker can speak on his own behalf. But North Carolina has not been informed yet whether the committee will grant that option.
So Walker waits as the season gets closer to kickoff on Sept. 2 in Charlotte — his hometown and the reason he is back in North Carolina. Walker made the decision to transfer from Kent State last December to be closer to his family in Charlotte, specifically his grandmother, Loretta Black, who helped raise him.
Walker detailed mental health challenges he faced being so far from home, as Black struggled with her physical health and underwent surgery while he was at Kent State. Given the way the NCAA has begun to emphasize the mental health needs of athletes, Walker said he does not understand the initial denial of his waiver.
“I just feel like it ain’t fair, especially somebody in my situation,” Walker said. “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.”
While Walker was in high school, he served as Black’s primary caregiver as she dealt with multiple health challenges, including knee and hip replacement. She was unable to do much for herself. Walker, who was already living with her at the time, did the cooking, cleaning and food shopping, and also bathed and clothed her. In 2020, he had the opportunity to play close to home at NC Central, and arranged for other family members to care for her.
He was still able to visit home, but COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the season. Walker wanted to play, and Kent State was the only option he had available. So he made the decision to move to Ohio just so he could see the field. Walker said being far from home started to take a toll on his mental health. He was able to visit his grandmother only twice a year, and though he started to play well, he said his demeanor changed as he worried more about her as last season progressed.
“It weighed on me a lot,” he said. “She had a surgery while I was gone, so there were a lot of things she was going through at the time I was up there. I was producing on the field, but I would go home every night and was upset because I couldn’t see her, and I couldn’t help her. Week 7, Week 8 I thought I might leave to get somewhere closer to home. It didn’t matter where it was to me, as long as I could get home to help her out.”
Walker said he talked to the team doctor about his mental health challenges. When he entered the portal in December, Walker had lost his head coach and position coach, and his closest friends also decided to transfer. He said the team doctor recommended he begin seeking mental health counseling at his new school.
“I want people to know this ain’t no fraud and no sob story,” Walker said. “I’ve seen things on Twitter when we put this stuff out, people think it’s some sob story so I can be eligible to play. It isn’t. This happened. I take it to heart. That’s what I want people to know.”
Walker said he was aware that when he chose North Carolina, he would need to file a waiver to play as a two-time transfer. But he said he had no idea the NCAA was on the verge of tightening the waiver approval process.
On Jan. 11, two days after Walker began classes at North Carolina, the Division I Council voted unanimously to significantly tighten the criteria for waivers. The NCAA says “multiple-time transfers who cannot demonstrate and adequately document a personal need for medical or safety reasons to depart the previous school are not eligible to compete immediately following their second undergraduate transfer.”
According to the NCAA, the Division I board of directors voted in August 2022 to restrict the waiver rules, and the board’s direction made it clear to NCAA members that waivers would be harder to come by this year. That was news to both Walker and North Carolina, who then realized it would become much more difficult than anticipated to get a waiver. The school worked for months to put the necessary paperwork together, including documentation about his mental health and need to be closer to home. In addition, Kent State also sent in documentation saying Walker needed to transfer for mental health reasons.
North Carolina coach Mack Brown has expressed his own frustration with the process, telling reporters last week, “I see a mental health issue, I see it at the highest level and I can’t imagine some committee that’s sitting up in Indianapolis with doors closed which has never met this kid doesn’t have to step up and really look at mental health if we’re worried about student-athlete welfare like we say we are, because you’re taking away his opportunity to play. Tez needs to be able to play, and people need to stand up for it.”
Walker has received mental health counseling since his arrival at North Carolina. As for the way he has handled news of the initial waiver rejection, Walker said he continues to practice in the hope that he will be allowed to play. If he’s not, he said he will remain on the team and sit out the season, per NCAA rules.
“Some days, I’ll be fine and then the next day, I’m breaking down crying in front of coaches,” Walker said. “Because I don’t know if I’m going to play. They tell me every day it’s out of my hands, not to worry about it. But it’s hard to not think about it. It feels like I’m out there practicing for no reason.”
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts watched his drive sail over Dodger Stadium’s left-field fence late Friday night, and the emotions spilled out of him as if he had delivered a walk-off in October, not March. An emphatic raised finger was followed by a forceful fist bump, then an emphatic toss of his helmet and a deafening roar as he pranced toward his teammates at home plate.
Betts hadn’t just sent the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 8-5, come-from-behind victory over the Detroit Tigers on the same day their World Series rings were distributed. He hadn’t just given the Dodgers their first 4-0 start to a season since 1981. He had done so in the wake of a debilitating illness that caused him to shed almost 20 pounds and often made him wonder if he could muster the energy to provide moments like this.
“That was super special,” Betts said. “I know it sounds super selfish, but more for me. I was really proud of myself for coming in and playing underweight. Not that it’s a big deal playing underweight, but just the fight that I’ve kind of been through — the ups and downs, and the nights I’m just crying because I’m sick, and my wife’s there holding me. That’s where the emotion comes from.”
As the Dodgers prepared to fly to Japan and begin their season last week, Betts, who had spent the past four months pouring himself into the arduous task of becoming an everyday shortstop, struggled to keep food down.
He didn’t play in either of the team’s first two regular-season games against the Chicago Cubs from Tokyo Dome and was instead sent home early. He was supposed to play in the Dodgers’ exhibition opener against the Los Angeles Angels the ensuing Sunday, but he was a late scratch. Vomiting persisted. By that point, Betts’ weight had dropped from 175 pounds to 157.
But a day later, Betts started to turn a corner. He played five-and-a-half innings in the Dodgers’ exhibition finale Tuesday, then faced live pitching during the off day Wednesday. By the time the home opener came around roughly 24 hours later, Betts was back to feeling like his normal self. And on Friday, he made his presence felt.
With one out in the sixth, Betts recorded just the second hit off former Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty, then came around to score on Freddie Freeman‘s tying two-run homer. In the bottom of the eighth, he hit what would have been the game-winning home run had the Tigers not come back to tie the score in the top of the ninth.
In the 10th, Betts capped a five-run inning by coming up with runners on second and third and the score tied, working the count full against Beau Brieske, then turning on a low changeup and sending it 376 feet.
“Just given what he’s been under the last couple weeks, and still to go out there and be ready, and not be 100 percent, and still give us everything he has, coming up huge — I can’t say enough about Mookie,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Betts is just the second player to hit multiple go-ahead homers in the eighth inning or later since the franchise moved to L.A. 67 years ago, according to ESPN Research. The other was Andre Ethier, who did the same on Aug. 2, 2015 — at about four inches taller and roughly 50 pounds heavier.
“I didn’t lose much strength, relative for my weight,” said Betts, who has since regained eight pounds but would still like to add another eight more. “I’m still pretty strong. But obviously as you add on more weight you can add on more strength. Right now I’m just having fun hitting 160-pound homers.”
Betts’ homer capped an epic two-day stretch for a Dodgers team that opened its season more than 5,000 miles away and is still coming off the high of its first full-season championship since 1988.
On Thursday, iconic rapper Ice Cube drove a Dodger Blue Chevy Bel-Air along Dodger Stadium’s foul territory with the World Series trophy strapped to the passenger seat, then brought it onto the field with the team lined up along the third-base line. On Friday, each of the Dodgers’ coaches and players walked onto a makeshift stage by the pitcher’s mound to receive gaudy championship rings decorated with 343 diamonds and 129 sapphires.
Amid all the pomp and circumstance, the 2025 Dodgers, seen as one of the most talented teams ever assembled, continued to win. They breezed past the Cubs in Japan without Betts and Freeman, then came back to the United States and snuck past the Tigers thanks in large part to a pitching staff that stranded 11 baserunners. On Friday, they fell behind twice and kept coming back.
“It kind of feels like we’re just picking up where we left off last year,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “There’s still a whole lot of fight on this team. There’s no give up.”
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings in a ceremony Friday night.
“There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles hosted the Detroit Tigers.
A choir in the left field pavilion sang “We Are the Champions” to open the ceremony hosted by actor Anthony Anderson.
“Nobody was like us last year and I have a feeling that nobody will be like us this year,” said Anderson, a Dodgers fan.
Ohtani, World Series MVP Freddie Freeman and Roberts received some of the loudest cheers walking a blue carpet to a circular stage between home plate and the mound.
Ohtani waved to the fans. When it was Freeman’s turn, they chanted “Freddie! Freddie!”
The stars were greeted with hugs from owner Mark Walter, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, president and CEO Stan Kasten and general manager Brandon Gomes, who presented the coaching staff and players with blue boxes.
An injured Kershaw didn’t pitch in the postseason last year, which culminated in the Dodgers’ five-game victory over the rival New York Yankees in the World Series. Ohtani’s Japanese countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto and catcher Austin Barnes were busy warming up in the bullpen and had a clubhouse manager accept their rings.
The handcrafted rings by Jostens contain 14-karat yellow gold, diamonds and genuine sapphires.
Inside the box’s lid, a video plays highlights of the World Series. Using a specialized hinge mechanism, the top of the ring opens to reveal Dodger Stadium displayed in detail and features the Commissioner’s Trophy with one diamond to mark the victory. Eight diamonds represent each of the team’s World Series titles and the years 1883 and 2024 mark the franchise’s 142 seasons.
The left side of the ring top interior includes a piece from the bases used in the World Series. Encircling the base are 34 sapphires honoring the Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who died days before the World Series began.
In a personal touch, players’ signatures are on the interior palm of the ring.
Former Dodger Jack Flaherty started for the Tigers on Friday night, so he’ll receive his ring Saturday.
“We can go beat him up today and give him the ring tomorrow,” Roberts joked.
Flaherty, a native of nearby Burbank, California, started Game 1 of the National League Championship Series and Game 1 of the World Series, both at Dodger Stadium, where he attended games as a kid. He joined the Dodgers at last year’s trade deadline and provided stability to a starting rotation rocked by injuries.
“He was the right person at the right time for our club,” Roberts said. “He delivered.”
Utilityman Kiké Hernández got out of his sick bed to participate in the ceremony after missing the home opener a day earlier.
“He’s feeling much better,” Roberts said.
The team gathered behind the mound waiting for everyone to cross the stage and then posed for photos, smiling and admiring the bling on their fingers. A brass band broke into “Not Like Us.”
“I hope it fits,” Roberts said. “If it ends up on my pinkie, we’ll be in trouble.”
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
HOUSTON — It didn’t take long for Juan Soto to launch his first home run in a New York Mets uniform.
The star right fielder, playing in his second game with his new club, blasted a solo shot in the third inning against the Houston Astros in his sixth plate appearance of the season en route to a 3-1 win for the Mets at Daikin Park on Friday night.
“It’s always great to have the first one,” Soto said. “A lot of guys want to get the first one out of the way early and try to get that pressure off. So, I feel like it feels pretty good.”
Did he feel pressure before getting on the board in 2025?
“No,” Soto said.
The home run off Hunter Brown, one of the sport’s most talented young pitchers, was another example of Soto’s otherworldly ability to hit baseballs, one that stems from an extraordinary blend of patience, power and IQ — and convinced the Mets to give him a 15-year, $765 million contract this offseason.
The pitch from Brown was a 96 mph cutter up and in, and out of the strike zone. It was a two-strike offering meant to put away a hitter. It was a pitch that a small fraction of players, even at the highest level, can barrel. Soto, it turns out, resides in that small fraction.
Soto recognized the pitch and squared it up with a convicted swing. The ball traveled 390 feet at 107.3 mph over the right-field wall, ricocheting off the second deck’s facade and back onto the field, to give New York a 3-0 lead.
“Pretty incredible,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Not easy to do. We’re talking about a pitch that’s out of the strike zone. Up and in. I think it’s a cutter, 96 [mph], and he’s able to hit it on a line like that. Amazing.”
After the game, Soto explained that he was looking for a pitch in that area, up and in, gleaning from information he gathered in the first three innings. He said teammates Jesse Winker and Brett Baty, also left-handed hitters, told him Brown felt comfortable throwing cutters up and in.
“So I was aware of that pitch, definitely,” said Soto, who finished 1-for-3 with a walk. “You’re hunting for something in the strike zone. He’s a guy who has a lot of ride [with his pitches]. But always aware of that pitch.”
Soto, who has been booed before each of his nine plate appearances in this series, had struck out in his previous two at-bats going back to the Mets’ season-opening loss Thursday when he went down swinging as the game-tying run for the final out against All-Star closer Josh Hader.
He exacted some revenge Friday with his first home run in orange and blue after clubbing a career-high 41 in his lone season with the New York Yankees in 2024.
“It’s Juan Soto,” Mendoza said. “He’s going to come through more times than not. What you want is to give him and the guys a chance to win a baseball game. We did that yesterday and didn’t get the W. Today, he came in and did what he did. He’s a special player.”