WKU Recruiting: The Curious Case of Kyree Walker
Since Rick Stansbury has taken the helm at Western Kentucky there has been a dramatic shift in recruiting and recruiting philosophy. Prior to Stansbury, Western Kentucky had never signed a 5-star recruit. That all changed when Mitchell Robinson pledged to the Tops and despite that saga not ending the way most Topper fans wanted, it laid the framework for what was to come. Since that time, Western Kentucky has been involved and/or signed a number of highly-rated recruits. Charles Bassey was a consensus top 5 player by some recruiting services, and there has been a litany of other 4 star recruits the Toppers have signed or recruited.
That leads us to the curious case of Kyree Walker. In 2017, Kyree committed to Arizona State University. At the time Kyree was listed as a top 5 player and 5-star recruit according to most recruiting sites. In 2018, Kyree de-committed from Arizona State and re-opened his recruitment.
Walker currently holds offers from a number of programs including Kansas, Memphis, Michigan, UCLA, Arkansas and…. Western Kentucky. On September 12, 2019, it was reported that Rick Stansbury flew to visit Walker and his family. Shortly thereafter, there were rumblings that Western Kentucky had vaulted up Walker’s list of potential suitors. Thereafter speculation began that Walker would likely reclassify and be eligible in December. And that brings us to the present. Reports indicate Walker is narrowing his list of schools but also considering overseas as an option.
Assuming the above is true, Walker would enroll mid-season and be eligible immediately. That would leave Walker with two options, one of which would include playing this year or redshirting and practicing with the team and being eligible for the 2020-21 season.
Nevertheless, you have to believe if Walker is going to enroll midseason that his intent would be to play this Spring. While this is not common, it has happened previously (Hamidou Diallo at Kentucky). The question still remains what Walker’s interest is in Western Kentucky, but reports indicate there is at least some level of mutual interest. As far as I am aware, Walker has not visited Western Kentucky officially, but often times recruits can visit and there are no reports that they were on campus.
Making a case for Western Kentucky:
Most basketball fans would shun the idea of a top-level recruit such as Walker choosing the Toppers. However, there is a great case to be made for Western Kentucky. First, most experts believe Arkansas is the favorite to land Walker. Curious enough, in a month the Toppers and Razorbacks will square off in Diddle Arena. This speculation is mainly related to the relationship that Musselman developed with Walker while he was the head coach at Nevada. Nevertheless, the Toppers have a solid case to make as well. First, assuming this team plays to their potential there is no reason to believe that they cannot make the NCAA Tournament. In fact, this team has the potential to do much more than “just make” the NCAA Tournament.
Walker’s athleticism would allow him to make immediate contributions to the team. Assuming he can acclimate with his teammates and learn the system, there is no reason to believe he couldn’t provide immediate quality minutes. I can only imagine it is a difficult transition from the high school game to college, but nevertheless, he could contribute to the Topper’s chase of the Conference USA Championship.
Further, with his addition, one could argue that Western Kentucky goes from a team you don’t want to see in the first round of the NCAA to a team that has an opportunity to make a deep run in the tournament. There are a lot of “ifs” that go along with that statement, including Kenny Copper’s waiver being granted (let’s not even go there) and avoiding any serious injuries.
The bottom line is that we will have to wait and see what Walker ultimately decides to do. Reports indicate that a decision or final list of schools is imminent. As recently as this week, one recruiting service reported that Walker had reduced his list to four schools that did not include Western Kentucky, but Walker himself later took to Twitter and said that the report was incorrect and he had not yet determined his final list of schools.
It will be fascinating to see what happens with Walker over the last month and a half of 2019. While questions remain how he’d fit into a team already heavy on wings, adding a player of his talent level to the 2020 stretch run would definitely be a potential gamechanger that could be the difference between the NIT and a deep NCAA tournament run.
