Hoophall West: Five-star Kyree Walker evaluating options
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. --One of the class of 2020's most explosive scorers, five-star Kyree Walker is rebooting his recruitment after decommiting from Arizona State this fall.
A tough and athletic shooting guard with a big time first step, Walker scored 33 points for Phoenix (Ariz.) Hillcrest in a close loss to Denton (Texas) Guyer on Saturday at the Hoophall West. After dealing with a lot on and off the floor over the last year, Walker feels great about where he and his team are.
“We are doing pretty good. We’ve had some extra pieces come in on the team and when we get those worked in during practice and stuff I think we’ll be a really good team.”
“I’m more confident than last year. My mother is fine with the whole cancer thing so you know my mind is clear for playing basketball. I’ve been working on the little things, my jump shot, my defense and things like that so that right there is good and I’m improving on my game overall.”
IN HIS OWN WORDS
Since opening up his recruitment, things have been pretty crazy for Walker on the recruiting front. He said that he's totally open and mentioned programs like Memphis, LSU, Virginia, Nevada (entire staff watched on Saturday), Oklahoma, Michigan and many more. He was able to discuss a few of them during allotted media time.
Memphis: “I couldn’t go wrong with Memphis you know with Penny Hardaway and Mike Miller. Those two alone bring a lot of good things going on.”
Virginia: “Virginia plays great, great defense. One of my former teammates I played with on the Oakland Soldiers, Kihei Clark goes there and he’s doing really good and I like the contact I’ve had back and forth with them.”
Nevada: "Nevada is very good. K.J. Hymes who played with me last year goes there and he tells me a lot about it. The coaches text me all the time. Coach Musselman is a great coach. He (coached) in the league.”
RIVALS' REACTION, WHAT'S NEXT?
As there are for so many of the top underclassmen, rumors have been swirling that Walker could be a candidate to reclassify to 2019, but he said he's not planning on making a class move at this point. Walker is pretty open but Nevada could be a good darkhorse candidate before it is all said and done.
For now, though, Walker isn't going to hurry. Look for movement with his list in early 2019 and at that point things could clear up a bit.
“Probably the beginning of the year, right after new year’s. I can get really focused and start to figure out where I want to go.”