NCAA received 'violent threats' in wake of denying Tez Walker eligibility - ESPN

The NCAA Division I board chair and vice-chair said in a statement Tuesday that «violent and possibly criminal threats» have been directed at committee members in the wake of a high-profile decision denying immediate eligibility for North Carolina receiver Tez Walker.

In the statement, Division I board chair/Georgia president Jere Morehead and vice-chair/Evansville president Christopher Pietruszkiewicz also said they were «troubled» by public remarks North Carolina leaders have made about the case. Coach Mack Brown and athletic director Bubba Cunningham both slammed the decision last week in pointed comments taking direct aim at the NCAA.

Morehead and Pietruszkiewicz said in their statement the national office is coordinating with law enforcement on the threats and «will continue to do whatever possible to support the volunteers who serve on these committees.»

A committee of NCAA Division I representatives denied Walker's final effort at eligibility for the 2023 season on Thursday.

«The Division I Board of Directors believes that NCAA staff and the committee are applying transfer waiver guidelines as intended by member schools and giving proper and full consideration to individual cases, including consulting a panel of licensed mental health experts for cases in which mental health is cited as a reason for transfer,» their statement said. «The DI Board last year directed the DI Council to refine the guidelines for transfer waivers and apply those guidelines to the 2023-24 academic year. These new guidelines were supported unanimously by all 32 Division I conferences in January, and prior to that were widely supported by member schools and coaches associations.»

Walker, who previously was enrolled at NC Central and Kent