In the next month, prized consensus Top 10 HS recruit Chris Walker at Florida was supposed to be making everyone’s Preseason All American lists and be in the running for SEC POY honors as we near the onset of the ’13-’14 NCAA season.
But that isn’t the case, as the 6’9 and 230lb elite level athlete, that has already been compared to Kevin Garnett, still hasn’t enrolled at the University of Florida and may wind up a casualty of his lackluster academics over the last few years at Holmes County HS in Florida.
But it’s not all his fault. He’s truly is a product of his environment as he grew up without either a mother or a father, instead spent his HS years living with a guardian who resides within the boundaries of the tiny Holmes County HS school district.
Young could have transferred to one of the many traveling powerhouse prep schools like St Benedicts in New Jersey or Monteverde Academy in his home-state of Florida, but remained loyal to the only family that has been loyal to him, going to one of the smallest schools in the Florida school system.
Of course, now he is dealing with the aftermath of a tiny school district that has very little experience in getting Division I prospects qualified to enter college. A fact made clear when the NCAA Eligibility Center made him take 3 online courses this Summer in an attempt to meet all of the requirements to enroll for the Fall semester.
The original news about Walker’s academic issues surfaced back in June, and with no new word heading into the Fall eligibility deadline coming up this week, it appears as if Walker will not be joining fellow highly touted incoming freshman Kasey Hill on the Gators roster, at least not yet.
If he isn’t cleared this week, he would have until late December to qualify for the the next semester beginning in January, giving him even more time to get his grades in order. Unfortunately, if he still doesn’t make the cut by then, Florida fans may miss out on the prized recruit entirely as Walker is so talented, remember he once tallied 39 points and 26 rebounds in a single HS game this season, that he may then declare for the 2014 NBA Draft, where he is already projected as a legit Lottery pick.
Chris Walker’s Insane 46 Pt Triple Double In HS:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
