The NCAA has reversed itself and granted a waiver to North Carolina wide receiver Devontez “Tez” Walker, clearing the Kent State transfer to play immediately.

Walker was originally declared ineligible this season as a second-time transfer, despite his original school, North Carolina A&T, having canceled its 2020 season due to COVID. However, after receiving what it called “new information,” the NCAA granted Walker’s waiver request.

NCAA president Charlie Baker and Division I Board of Directors chair Jere Morehead (who is also president of the University of Georgia) issued the following statement on Thursday:

“It is unfortunate that UNC failed to provide this important information previously. While we must be careful not to compromise a student-athlete’s right to privacy when it comes to sensitive issues, we want to assure the Division I membership and everyone watching how the new transfer rules are applied, that this meets the new transfer waiver standards. UNC’s behavior and decision to wage a public relations campaign is inappropriate and outside the bounds of the process UNC’s own staff supported. Had the UNC staff not behaved in this fashion and submitted this information weeks ago, this entire unfortunate episode could have been avoided.”

Walker’s eligibility is a huge boost for North Carolina, which is 4-0 and ranked No. 14 in the country headed into Saturday’s home game vs. Syracuse. He was a first-team All-MAC selection at Kent State in 2022, when he totaled 58 receptions for 921 yards and 11 touchdowns.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Walker signed with East Tennessee State out of a Charlotte, N.C., high school in 2019, but never enrolled due a knee injury. He landed the next season at North Carolina A&T — like ETSU an FCS school — but also never played there before heading to Kent State in 2021.

Walker committed to North Carolina on Dec. 21, 2022, and enrolled in school on Jan. 9. Two days later, the NCAA changed its transfer rules to make it more difficult for second-time transfers to achieve immediate eligibility.

The question of Walker’s eligibility has been a major controversy for several months, with Walker making the case he would have been eligible before the rule change and that he wanted to move closer to home so that his elderly grandparents could see him play. North Carolina coach Mack Brown issued a scathing statement when Walker’s waiver appeal was denied on Sept. 7, saying that the “decision makers at the NCAA and on the (transfer) committee should be ashamed of themselves.”

Brown and Walker both issued statements regarding the news of the NCAA’s reversal on Thursday:

Kickoff Saturday for North Carolina-Syracuse is set for 2:30 p.m. Central in Chapel Hill. The game will be televised live by ESPN.