8/2/2016 basketball Edit

Walker a wanted man among top programs

Dan McDonald

Rivals contributor

It’s hard to see your stock rise much when you are already ranked as the 26th best prospect in your class, but Lonnie Walker’s play this summer just might warrant a bump. He started off the July by dominating at the Peach Jam, and finished it off with some really impressive performances at The 8 in Las Vegas.

Villanova, Syracuse, Miami, Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama and Oregon are among the schools recruiting the five-star shooting guard from Pennsylvania. He’s planning to visit Syracuse and Alabama unofficially during August.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: Walker talked about four of the schools recruiting him hardest.

Syracuse: “It’s a good program. They have really good assistant coaches there and they are really good with guards. Malachi [Richardson] has talked to me a little about them.”

Kentucky: “It’s Kentucky. It’s self-explanatory. Getting offered by a school like that shows you are among the best players in the country.”

Villanova: “Villanova is Villanova. They have been recruiting me hard since my freshman year. They have shown a lot of love.”

Miami: “They really believe in me. They have Chris Lykes committed. They talk about how it could be me and Chris and how we would make a really good backcourt.”

WHAT’S NEXT?: After Walker finishes up summer camps, he’ll take some time and start looking at all the schools recruiting him. At some point in August, he plans to cut his list down to a smaller number of schools. He’ll take official visits during October and hopes to have a decision made by the start of his senior season of high school basketball.

RIVALS’ REACTION: Walker was simply one of the better players we saw this summer playing with Team Final. It’s no surprise that some of the best programs in the country are involved in his recruitment, including the local school and reigning national champion Villanova Wildcats. Villanova has done everything right in his recruitment, but Syracuse has a track record of signing really good players from Team Final and Kentucky is never easy to beat for a recruit.