'20 FL SF Corey Walker (Committed 3/3/2019)

#51
#51
JoAllan said:
Tennessee certainly needs a good big man for 2020; however based on what I have read recently I would not expect Kessler to come to Tennessee (prob UNC maybe Duke less likely but possibly GA). For “big men” I suspect Tennessee will concentrate on Hall and Ajogbor.
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I really like Hall, too. I've been saying don't count out Georgia for months. I've always thought Kessler may want to follow in his Dad and Uncle's footsteps
 
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#52
#52
The Dog said:
I really like Hall, too. I've been saying don't count out Georgia for months. The Kessler may want to follow in his Dad and Uncle's footsteps
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Yea, it looks like he likes UNC, but no one should ever count out GA simply because of the family ties. Also GA has signed some really good players.......they have 4 top 100 players coming in for 19...one being the second ranked player. That also could give Kessler more reason to choose GA.
 
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#53
#53
The No. 29 player in the nation is already in the boat and has been for a couple of months now. Landing Walker, who lives in the Florida Gators’ backyard and had an offer from Mike White’s staff, was a coup for the Vols this winter and a sign of how far their recruiting reach has extended in 2020. Things moved quickly with Walker. Tennessee’s staff went to see him as a group when the Vols played in Gainesville in January and immediately offered. He made an unofficial visit shortly thereafter, returned for an official visit with his mother two weeks later and then promptly committed. That’s some strong work by the staff.
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At 6-foot-7, some will call Walker undersized for his power forward role but Tennessee just had as similarly sized player win back-to-back SEC Player of the Year Awards and most observers would say that Walker is far ahead of where Grant Williams was at this stage of his career. Walker does almost all of his work within 15-feet of the basket right now but he’s got a lot of parts to his game that remind people of former Vol Tobias Harris at the same stage of his career.
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-VQ
 
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#56
#56
Well, counting Gaines and Walker in back to back years, I would call that a potential Hargrave pipeline. I consider that a good thing
 
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#62
#62
Tennessee is chasing some enormous targets in the 2020 class, but the Vols added a huge foundational piece to the class all the way back in February when five-star forward Corey Walker Jr. gave Rick Barnes a verbal commitment. Walker (6-foot-7, 205 pounds), already a top-30 player at the time of his commitment, has seen his stock rise even higher this spring, moving all the way up to No. 21 in the 2020 rankings in Rivals recently updated rankings. He also made another big decision regarding his future, opting to transfer from his Florida high school to Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va. to finish up his prep career. “After talking it over and looking at everything I just decided it was something that I wanted to do, that I thought would be best for me,” Walker said of the decision. “Basketball is a big part of it, but they also have great academics there, which is important to me.
“It will give me a chance to play with better players and it’s also a place where I know I’m going to play against great competition.”
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Incoming Tennessee freshman Devante Gaines just finished taking a fifth year at Hargrave, and it was a beneficial experience for him. While Walker isn’t going to be a post-grad like Gaines, that experience factored into his decision. “I know that Devante went up there and had a good year and it was good for him,” he said. “I talked about it a lot with the Tennessee coaching staff and they were on board with it. I think it will be good for me as a player and as a person for my development on and off the court.” Speaking of on the court, Walker has had a strong spring session on the adidas grass roots circuit, strong enough to move up eight spots in the recent rankings update. Asked why he thinks his already lofty ranking has gotten even loftier Walker has two firm ideas about what he’s shown people. “I think I’ve shown that I’ve really increased my range since last summer and am just a better shooter overall. I think my mid-range game was already pretty good, but I’ve gotten more efficient with that and I’ve shown that I can step out and hit the three,” he said. “I also think my defense has been a big part of it too. I’ve always prided myself on playing hard on defense and I think that’s been showing up. I really feel like against most teams I can guard 1-through-5, I take a lot of pride in my defense.”
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One thing Walker has not had to deal with this spring is the pressure that comes with recruiting and worrying about what coaches from what schools might be in the gym to see him play during the live period. Thanks to his early decision to commit to the Vols his entire focus has been on basketball and improving as a player. Instead of hosting a bunch of coaches on home visits and checking the stands to see what schools were there to see him during, he’s been able to breeze through the spring without the burden of recruiting being on his mind. “I was always happy with my decision but after going through the spring and seeing other people still dealing with recruiting and everything that comes with it I’m even happier,” he said. “There can be a lot of pressure that comes with recruiting and I’m not having to deal with any of it. “I see my teammates and friends dealing with all of that and I’m glad it’s behind me. I’m in a position now where I’m actually able to help guys, to talk them about what I was looking for and what made it easy for me to make that early decision.” Rivals rates Walker as a five-star prospect and the No. 21 overall player in the nation in the Class of 2020.
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-VQ
 
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#63
#63
Man, I love this kid, already. Back to being a 5-star for all the star-gazers, too. Even when he was still a 4-star, a couple of articles I read said he was a NBA lock in a couple of years. The '20 class is loaded and I think UT is in great shape to pull multiple top 50 players.
 
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#66
#66
The Dog said:
Man, I love this kid, already. Back to being a 5-star for all the star-gazers, too. Even when he was still a 4-star, a couple of articles I read said he was a NBA lock in a couple of years. The '20 class is loaded and I think UT is in great shape to pull multiple top 50 players.
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Agree. Seems like Barnes is building something with Hargrave too.
 
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#67
#67
We better enjoy Walker for the short time that he's here because I think he'll only be here a year or two. He has NBA wing written all over him.
 
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#68
#68
What is your overall impression of the small forward group, and who stands out to you as someone to keep a close eye on moving forward?
There are a number of giant bodies that can really be deemed more of small-ball four men, but have the tenacity to guard on the perimeter and the requisite ball skills to play at a similar spot on the offensive end. Jalen Johnson, Corey Walker, Hall and Jabri Abdur-Rahim are all throwback-style players who also possess tremendous skill sets and the potential to get much better in the coming years.
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-Rivals
 
#71
#71
Corey Walker, Keon Johnson and Caleb Love in the '20 class will be the greatest Vol basketball recruiting class of all time. I feel like if for some reason UT doesn't get Love, we will get Springer instead. Worst case scenario, no Love or Springer, it will be Stone or Josh Hall or PJ Hall and it will still be the greatest class ever. I'm gonna quote that 80's song, "future's so bright we gotta wear shades"
 
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#72
#72
The Dog said:
Corey Walker, Keon Johnson and Caleb Love in the '20 class will be the greatest Vol basketball recruiting class of all time. I feel like if for some reason UT doesn't get Love, we will get Springer instead. Worst case scenario, no Love or Springer, it will be Stone or Josh Hall or PJ Hall and it will still be the greatest class ever. I'm gonna quote that 80's song, "future's so bright we gotta wear shades"
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With Walker in the boat and assuming Johnson not far behind...hard to think they whiff on:
Love, Hayes, Thompson, Hall, Hall, Ruzhentsev, Springer, Stone, Cardwell, Ambrose-Hylton.
 
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#74
#74
bleedingTNorange said:
With Walker in the boat and assuming Johnson not far behind...hard to think they whiff on:
Love, Hayes, Thompson, Hall, Hall, Ruzhentsev, Springer, Stone, Cardwell, Ambrose-Hylton.
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Agreed, unless something crazy happens and UT somehow can only sign 2 players in '20.
 
#75
#75
We’ve posted some tidbits on the board from the NBA Players’ Association Top-100 camp this week and the overriding theme is that Tennessee is in on some talent in 2020.
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Commitment Corey Walker has had a really nice week. Just a really smooth scorer with a lot of pieces to his game and a guy that has a high motor.
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-VQ
 
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