Kenneth Walker III -Idle Curosity

#1
onthehill71

onthehill71

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#1
Watching him run over, under and thru 49er's...I noticed he graduated from Arlington HS. Went to Mich State and ran all over Jim Harbaugh.... how did we miss him at UT?
Anyone have any insights?
 
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#3
#3
onthehill71 said:
Watching him run over, under and thru 49er's...I noticed he graduated from Arlington HS. Went to Mich State and ran all over Jim Harbaugh.... how did we miss him at UT?
Anyone have any insights?
Click to expand...

He started out at Wake Forest then transferred to Michigan State.

My son played “Pop Warner” ball with him when they were kids. Walker was an unstoppable monster.
 
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#8
#8
-Idle Curiosity is a great addition to a thread title. More posters should use that rather than just a player’s name. Kudos OP.
 
#15
#15
wmcovol said:
Pruitt “recruited” Gray with a Chick fila bag. Where’s Gray today?
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Uh, the NFL.

Eric Gray's career earnings are projected to reach around $4 million by the end of his initial four-year rookie contract with the New York Giants (2023-2026), with cumulative earnings estimated at $2.88 million through 2025, and a projected total of ~$4.03 million by the end of the 2026 season, including his signing bonus and salary progression.
 
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#18
#18
memtownvol said:
Two of my daughters went to school with him. Very polite young man with a great attitude. He basically played on a bad team and didn’t get the attention he deserved. Diamond in the rough kinda guy. Glad to see him continuing to do great things.
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Exactly this. Tigers were not a good team.
 
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#19
#19
Vol2B said:
He was good but not eye popping good at Arlington. Turned into a stud in college and seems to be really hitting his stride in the league.
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He was eye popping good playing SYS for the Ellendale Bears. 🤣

Kenny “Thunder Shoes” Walker back then. They played AC/DC Thunderstruck over the speakers in Ellendale Park.
 
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#21
#21
YankeeVol said:
Uh, the NFL.

Eric Gray's career earnings are projected to reach around $4 million by the end of his initial four-year rookie contract with the New York Giants (2023-2026), with cumulative earnings estimated at $2.88 million through 2025, and a projected total of ~$4.03 million by the end of the 2026 season, including his signing bonus and salary progression.
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I didn’t know. I don’t follow the NFL. Thanks for answering.
 
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#22
#22
I was one of Kenny’s wrestling coaches in middle school… he’s a great young man and I got to see up close his work ethic and talent. He had coaches from a few schools in Memphis wanting him to wrestle and play football. He just kinda flew under the radar his senior year but those close to him knew how special he was going to be. He really just needed the right program to shine in and he got that at Michigan St.
 
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#23
#23
onthehill71 said:
Watching him run over, under and thru 49er's...I noticed he graduated from Arlington HS. Went to Mich State and ran all over Jim Harbaugh.... how did we miss him at UT?
Anyone have any insights?
Click to expand...
He was a 3 star who got recruited to Wake Forest, where he played for his freshman and sophomore year, before transferring to Michigan State for his last year of college.

At the time, for example, Rivals had him rated #163 at the running back position and 63rd of all prospects in the state. (ESPN was presumably a little kinder to him, rating him #91 at the RB position and #39 in the state).

That year, though, UT had already gotten Eric Gray (who Rivals rated #12 overall at the running back position and #6 of all prospects in the state...ESPN #19 at the position and #6 in the state), already had Ty Chandler on the roster (who Rivals had rated #7 at the position and #5 in the state, while ESPN #9 at the position and #6 in the state), as well as Carlin Fils-aime and Cameron Miller

They probably felt they were set at RB (yes, I know neither Gray nor Chandler finished at UT, but this is all about how/why they didn't look at / recruit someone), but even so or with the benefit of hindsight, Walker was so far down the rankings and lists, UT was probably never really looking or considering him all that much as a recruit out of high school.
 
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#24
#24
TrueOrange said:
He was a 3 star who got recruited to Wake Forest, where he played for his freshman and sophomore year, before transferring to Michigan State for his last year of college.

At the time, for example, Rivals had him rated #163 at the running back position and 63rd of all prospects in the state. (ESPN was presumably a little kinder to him, rating him #91 at the RB position and #39 in the state).

That year, though, UT had already gotten Eric Gray (who Rivals rated #12 overall at the running back position and #6 of all prospects in the state...ESPN #19 at the position and #6 in the state), already had Ty Chandler on the roster (who Rivals had rated #7 at the position and #5 in the state, while ESPN #9 at the position and #6 in the state), as well as Carlin Fils-aime and Cameron Miller

They probably felt they were set at RB (yes, I know neither Gray nor Chandler finished at UT, but this is all about how/why they didn't look at / recruit someone), but even so or with the benefit of hindsight, Walker was so far down the rankings and lists, UT was probably never really looking or considering him all that much as a recruit out of high school.
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Believe he had health issues part of the year. A la Trey Smith. We played them and not a good team to shine on.
 
#25
#25
Fault here falls more on U. Memphis than UT!

UT got the top RB prospect that year; Memphis should have been all over him as the home team. Likely they (UM) were caught up having future NFL RB guys Tony Pollard, Kenneth Gainwell, Darrell Henderson, Patrick Taylor and Antonio Gibson on that upcoming Cotton Bowl team and Norvell et al did not see the long-term picture of what Walker would become (Heisman runner-up, Super Bowl MVP).

Remember Walker was committed to Kent State before getting the Wake offer.
 
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