UNC WR Walker on NCAA appeal: ‘It’s frustrating’
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
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.”
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Cubs manager Craig Counsell defended his decision to leave lefty Shota Imanaga in the game to face righty Manny Machado in the fifth inning of the San Diego Padres‘ victory in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series on Wednesday.
Machado hit a first pitch splitter for a two-run home run, extending the Padres’ lead to 3-0, the eventual final score.
A deciding Game 3 will be at Wrigley Field on Thursday.
“The results suggest that we should have done something different,” Counsell said after the loss. “Really just confidence in Shota, plain and simple there. I thought he was pitching well. I thought he was throwing the ball really well and, unfortunately, he made a mistake.”
The decision came after Fernando Tatis Jr. walked and then took second on Luis Arraez‘s sacrifice bunt. That created an open base. Counsell said he considered walking Machado but decided to pitch to him instead.
“Walking him wasn’t in my head,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “That splitter was meant for down in the zone.”
Counsell had righty Mike Soroka ready, but he decided against going to him. It was a curious move, considering the Cubs used an opener to start Game 2, purposely allowing Imanaga to avoid facing Tatis and Machado in the first inning.
That wasn’t the case in the fifth.
“I don’t put a manager’s cap on,” Machado said when asked if he was surprised that he got to face Imanaga in that situation. “I’m 0-for-6 at that point. So yeah, I’m not thinking about that. For myself, I was just thinking about trying to get to Imanaga.”
Said Padres manager Mike Shildt: “I’ve got my hands full with my own club. I can’t be thinking about anybody else’s strategy.”
The teams will play a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday. The Padres will start former Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish. Righty Jameson Taillon will take the hill for Chicago.
“I’m excited,” Taillon said. “As [Game 2] got going there, I started to get excited for tomorrow. You do a lot of work throughout the season for big moments. I’m looking forward to it.”
NEW YORK — Jazz Chisholm Jr. zipped all the way home from first base on Austin Wells‘ tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, and the New York Yankees extended their season Wednesday night with a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of their AL Wild Card Series.
Unhappy he was left out of the starting lineup in the opener, Chisholm also made a critical defensive play at second base that helped the Yankees send the best-of-three playoff to a decisive Game 3 on Thursday night in the Bronx.
“What a game. I mean, it has been two great games, these first two,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “A lot of big plays on both sides.”
In the latest chapter of baseball’s most storied rivalry, the winner advances to face AL East champion Toronto in a best-of-five division series beginning Saturday. It will be the fourth winner-take-all postseason game between the Yankees and Red Sox, and the first since the 2021 AL wild card, a one-game format won by Boston.
“Should be a fun night,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.
Ben Rice hit an early two-run homer and Aaron Judge had an RBI single for the Yankees, who received three innings of scoreless relief from their shaky bullpen after starter Carlos Rodón put the first two batters on in the seventh.
Devin Williams worked a one-hit eighth for the win, and David Bednar got three outs for his first postseason save. Judge pumped his fist when he caught Ceddanne Rafaela‘s fly ball on the right-field warning track to end it.
Trevor Story homered and drove in all three runs for the Red Sox, who won the series opener 3-1 on Tuesday night behind ace lefty Garrett Crochet.
With the score tied in the seventh, Chisholm saved a run with a diving stop of an infield single by pinch hitter Masataka Yoshida.
“Unbelievable play,” Rice said. “That’s what you are going to get from him — just a guy who will give 110% every play.”
Story then flied out with the bases loaded to the edge of the center-field warning track to end the inning, and fired-up reliever Fernando Cruz waved his arms wildly to pump up the crowd.
“I almost got out of his way,” Boone said, drawing laughs. “There’s a passion that he does his job with, and it spilled over a little bit tonight. I am glad it was the end of his evening at that point.”
Said Rice: “I felt like I could see every vein popping out of his head.”
Chisholm also made a tough play to start an inning-ending double play with two on in the third — the first of three timely double plays turned by the Yankees.
“He’s a game-changer,” Judge said. “He showed up at the park today and had the biggest plays for us.”
There were two outs in the eighth when Chisholm drew a walk from losing pitcher Garrett Whitlock. Chisholm was running on a full-count pitch when Wells pulled a line drive that landed just inside the right-field line and caromed off the low retaining wall in foul territory.
Right fielder Nate Eaton made a strong, accurate throw to the plate, but the speedy Chisholm beat it with a headfirst slide as Wells pumped his arms at first base.
“Any ball that an outfielder moves to his left or right, I have to score, in my head,” Chisholm said. “That’s all I was thinking.”
With the Yankees threatening in the third, Boston manager Alex Cora lifted starter Brayan Bello from his first postseason outing and handed the game to a parade of relievers who held New York in check until the eighth.
Hard-throwing rookie Cam Schlittler (4-3, 2.96 ERA) will start Game 3 for New York, and rookie left-hander Connelly Early (1-2, 2.33 ERA) will pitch for Boston in place of injured Lucas Giolito. It will be the second winner-take-all game in MLB postseason history in which both starting pitchers are rookies.
Schlittler, 24, grew up in Boston, where he attended Northeastern University, but has said he always wanted to play for the Yankees. Early has made four major league starts since his debut on Sept. 9.
Information from The Associated Press and ESPN Research was used in this report.
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