Mr. Basketball Candidate: C.J. Walker
With the start of the high school season, we look to dive into the possible candidates for the Mr. Basketball Award in Indiana. Since 2006, seven of the ten winner have been drafted by NBA teams. Of those three others,…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingWith the start of the high school season, we look to dive into the possible candidates for the Mr. Basketball Award in Indiana. Since 2006, seven of the ten winner have been drafted by NBA teams. Of those three others, Bloomington South’s Jordan Hulls went undrafted and Hamilton Southeastern’s Zak Irvin and Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan are still in college. This prestigious award is always a difficult choice with the amount of talent in the state every year.
This year is no different and maybe even more than the past few. There are no really dominant teams at the top levels and that evens the playing field even more. Players from all over the state should vie for this opportunity. Guys like Dru Smith down in Evansville or Damien Jefferson up in East Chicago. As always, there are tons of options in the central part of the state with C.J. Walker, Eron Gordon, Kyle Guy, and Joey Brunk near the top of the list.
This season will be difficult to predict but we breakdown some of the key factors of each player we think has an early shot this year. We begin with C.J. Walker of Arsenal Tech.
C.J. Walker of Arsenal Tech (IN)
Not many players in this group of candidates has had as much growth as Walker has over his high school career. He started as a freshman and helped lead a much older Arsenal Tech team at a time where he was just getting his feet wet. That team was loaded and eventually won a State Championship team his sophomore year. Then, when Trey Lyles, Rashaun Richardson, and Jeremie Tyler all left for college, this was Walker’s team. He didn’t have near the weapons he had in years past and he made his living off of setting up his teammates. Last year, C.J. was asked to take more of a scoring role and it was needed as he was going to be the lone high-end talent left on the roster. They won 15 games and came up short against Lawrence North in the Sectional but Walker scored 571 points and had 89 assists on the year. This was a different kind of play from him. He’s always been a guy that has played more advanced than his age was and he’s excelled. Walker has shown improvement in his shooting and athleticism but still the best aspect of his game might be his passing. An unselfish guy when he needs to be, C.J. has a little bit better of a group around him this year. If they show improvement as a team, Walker could lead them back and guide them through a treacherous Sectional. He’s been there before and found his way out, he can do it again.
Why He Can Win
The reason C.J. Walker could win is because, maybe more so than anyone else on this list, Walker is the most veteran when it comes to tournament success. He’s a household name among the voters and hailing from the Indianapolis area doesn’t hurt. The schedule isn’t as flashy as it was for Trey Lyles senior year and that is helpful. Staying home and winning games is huge in this competitive year. They do travel a lot and have a ton of winnable road games like Michigan City, Richmond, and Harrison. That allows voters from other areas to see him play. Walker could put up big numbers this year, again.
Things To Watch For
There will always be a ton of reasons why a player on any given team in any given year won’t win. It is always going to be like that. But, with Walker there aren’t as many negatives, just one big one. The Sectional hurts because going far in the State Tournament is the one biggest thing to help you win Mr. Basketball. Get on the biggest stage and perform like the best player in the state with everyone watching. Getting out of Sectional 10 is tough, very tough. The flip side is if it happens, it will make more noise than a lot of other contenders might be able to make that early in the Tournament.