Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Class of 2025 EJ Walker talks Wisconsin and Minnesota visits, other high major offers
By CHARLIE PARENTEJ Walker, a 6-foot-8 230 pound forward in the class of 2025, has received high major interest and offers since the NCAA contact period opened up last week.
The Lloyd Memorial High School (KY.) product has heard from Tennessee, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan, LSU, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Arkansas, among several others.
Walker holds offers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue, Arizona State, Cal, West Virginia, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Missouri, and Xavier, among others. He mentioned the Big 10 schools are currently recruiting him the hardest.
Class of 2025 EJ Walker (@ejwalker_) has heard from these schools:
Tennessee Purdue Indiana Michigan LSU Wisconsin Ohio State West Virginia Minnesota Missouri Arkansas Xavier Providence Texas A&M Louisville Wake Forest Murray State SMU Western Kentucky pic.twitter.com/sbNKEuIgw7
Walker visited both Minnesota and Wisconsin this past month, and broke down each visit to ZAGSBLOG:
Minnesota: “It was nice,” he said. “I liked that everything was close together and they got nice facilities and all that.”
Walker mentioned the Gophers’ staff is looking to take advantage of his versatility and ability to push in transition.
“It’s really just like the 3-4 position,” he said. “Get the rebound, push it, just use my versatility and play my game basically: be able to play make, shoot, dribble when I need to.”
Wisconsin: “I liked it a lot,” he said. “It was way different than what I thought but in a good way. Their facilities are good but under construction, it looks like it’s going to be really good.”
Walker mentioned he spent the majority of his visit talking to assistant coach Sharif Chambliss and head coach Greg Gard.
“They got a couple of players who do the same things I do,” he said. “Just being able to post in a mismatch or taking a big dude off the dribble, just being able to post up when I need to and stepping out and shooting and taking it up the court.”
Walker has an upcoming visit with Tennessee on Monday and will try to visit as many schools as he can this summer.
“We’re going to Tennessee on Monday,” he said. “I know LSU, Wake Forest, and Arkansas – we’re trying to get to them. WKU [Western Kentucky] wants me to come up there too.”
“We’re really just trying to go to as many places as possible so I can really just get a feel for everywhere,” he concluded.
In terms of what Walker can bring to the table, his high school coach Michael Walker stressed EJ’s versatility above all.
“He’s an amazing kid,” he said. “He’s a gym rat, his love for the game shows and in terms of his playing style you’re getting a kid who’s very versatile. He can play multiple positions, he can guard multiple positions and he can score at all three levels.”
“His IQ is really high,” coach Walker continued. “His best ability is being able to pass and make his teammates better. I call him a swiss army knife because there’s so much he can do and that’s what college coaches love about him.
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