Walker, Durfee Demonstrate Complicated World of Double Transfer

The No. 1 feel-good story for college football last week was Kalen DeBoer's University of Washington team beating Oregon in a thriller that went down to the final play, plus getting a chance to show the entire nation its handsome stadium, animated fan base and general devotion to the game.

After that, it was Tez Walker.

This is a North Carolina wide receiver, who similar to the Huskies' Zach Durfee, transferred to the ACC school and was denied immediate eligibility as a double transfer by the NCAA.

Yet unlike the UW edge rusher in limbo, Walker got the decision overturned, made his second game was appearance last weekend for the Tar Heels and was an immediate headliner, catching touchdown passes of 18, 56 and 33 yards in a 41-31 victory over Miami.

Meantime, Durfee has had his initial request to play this season rejected by the governing body, appealed its and rejected a second time, with him and the UW still fighting the process.

As for Walker, UW coaches and players acknowledged they've been following the receiver's story because it's been prominently covered by news outlets, especially ESPN.

What the Huskies didn't realize right away was they played against this guy last season.

"Did we?" Rome Odunze said with a quizzical look.

"I hadn't thought about that," coach Kalen DeBoer.

One reason for any confusion was this talented player was known as Devontez Walker when he showed up at Husky Stadium with Kent State for the 2022 season opener and DeBoer's UW coaching debut.

Walker wore No. 81, lined up wide and caught an instantaneous 47-yard touchdown pass on the first play of an opening-quarter drive — for the initial points scored against a DeBoer Husky team in what was then a 14-0 game before teh Huskies won 45-20.

Similar to Durfee, Walker attended another school, North Carolina Central, but didn't play football, before ending at Kent State. He ended up catching 58 passes for 921 yards and 11 touchdowns for a 5-7 Golden Flashes team.

He left the MAC school and entered the portal when his coach, Sean Lewis, resigned and joined Deion Sanders' staff at Colorado as the offensive coordinator, and his quarterback Collin Schlee transferred to UCLA.

The NCAA ruled against making Walker eligible this season, a decision that caused Tar Heels coach Mack Brown to publicly show his disgust and rail against.

However, Walker eventually was able to demonstrate personal hardship as a Charlotte native who had been the primary care-giver for his grandmother and was dealing with his own mental-health issues.

"He's a baller, man," Odunze said. "I was disappointed when he wasn't going to be able to play but excited when he got his stuff. Now it's free Durf, for sure."

Durfee briefly attended North Dakota State as a student only and then transferred to the University of Sioux Falls, DeBoer's alma mater and a previous coaching stop, where he became a promising edge rusher.

However, Durfee doesn't have any known personal-hardship arguments to make — other than he's not playing football on Saturdays these fall.

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