After breaking down Walker and his transition to the next level, John Diggs from Inside the Black & Gold connected with Walker to break down why he picked the Terps, his transition to center and the Terps’ 2023 recruiting class.
Diggs: Describe in your own words how the process materialized and when you decided to commit.
Walker: “I always wanted to play for my hometown as a kid and Maryland was like one of the first schools I visited, so then the official visit they treated me like family.”
Diggs: What other factors made Maryland appealing to you?
Walker: “Because it’s my hometown school, my home state school.”
Diggs: What coaches were you in contact the most with?
Walker: “I was in contact with coach [Brian] Braswell, coach [Mike] Locksley.”
Diggs: What is your relationship with coach Braswell and what are your thoughts on what he can do for your game?
Walker: “We have a great relationship. Like we call each other once every week. I’m supposed to be going up there soon again just like just to be on campus. He’s a great coach, coached in the NFL for a few years.”
Diggs: So you’re gonna be moving from a high school guard to a center in college. When did that conversation actually start? Was that something that Maryland had talked to you about right away or was that something that came up later on as they were recruiting you?
Walker: “It came on like later on and they recruited me, like a few weeks before my official visit. Lately I’ve been working on snapping so, just calling plays working on the center position. I’m trying to prepare myself for college right now.”
Diggs: Have you ever played center before or have you always been a guard?
Walker: “I’ve always played guard.”
Diggs: What do you think is gonna be the most challenging part when you’re officially moved to center once you arrive on campus?
Walker: “I think the most challenging part might be calling the defenses and calling the plays, you know. Just calling the coverages and stuff like that.”
Diggs: “Who are you in contact with the other commits in the 2023 class, who do you communicate with the most?
Walker: “I communicate a lot with Champ Long, Ryan Manning.”
Diggs: And you have a couple of former teammates that are now at Maryland, Dante Trader and Preston Howard. What was their message?
Walker: “Well, basically, they were just telling me like I get there, I just gotta work hard, you know? It’s a great place to be. I played with them, like I already know people on the team.”
Diggs: By the time you’re an upperclassman, where will F where will Maryland football be?
Walker: “Like we going to win a championship. We have like a great class this year. We’re getting a lot of recruits, it’s just the best is ahead.”
Diggs: What do you think is the biggest strength of this class?
Walker: “We’ve gotten a lot of wide receivers, but we’re getting a lot of good wide receivers and that’s what Maryland is known for, like having a great wide receiver and we have a great receiver coach who coached Randy Mo. I think that’s a big strength because we pass the ball a lot.”