In the 52 days since Chris Walker was admitted to Florida, he has been his own entity — isolated from the team and helpless to do anything about it.
For 52 days, Walker was stuck in limbo waiting for the NCAA to pass down its judgment while his legend continued to build in the media and the Gators’ fanbase.
But with Walker finally debuting tonight when No. 3 Florida (19-2, 8-0 Southeastern Conference) takes on Missouri (16-5, 4-4 SEC) at 9 in the O’Connell Center, coach Billy Donovan hopes to close the curtains on the freshman drama and instead put the focus back on the team.
“I think there was a lot of attention on Chris because he was not part of our team, he was separated from our team,” Donovan said.
“He’s now part of our team. There’s not our team and Chris Walker’s suspension. He’s now part of our team.”
Donovan continued by saying that although he does not want to take away anything from Walker and his first collegiate game, the focus of the matchup should be the visiting Tigers and not a freshman who will come off the bench in a limited role on the squad.
“Right now, there should be no attention on Chris,” Donovan said.
“I’m not trying to downplay Chris Walker. I’m excited for him, but this is not about him now. This is about our team.”
With Missouri having unusual height in its backcourt (all three starting guards are 6-foot-5 or higher), Walker may mean more to the team than expected.
The 6-foot-10, 220 pound forward not only has the size and strength to help the Gators in the paint, but he also has the speed and athleticism to guard the Tigers’ backcourt players.
While playing at Holmes County High in Bonifay, Walker recorded 30 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks in Florida’s 1A state championship.
Donovan knows the former McDonald’s All-American has talent beyond the typical freshman.
Donovan knows the forward has the ball skills of a guard.
But what he does not know yet is how comfortable Walker will be with the team’s plays and strategies, which Walker has had to learn in practice only. Donovan said Walker’s playing time depends on how he adjusts.
“All those things that he does in getting into the game is going to be predicated on him knowing what he is doing and what he can do in terms of coverage on the defensive end of the floor, what we’re running on offense, post defense and those types of things,” Donovan said. “He can be the best runner in the world, the best jumper in the world or the best rebounder in the world, but if he can’t do the things inside a game plan of what we need to get done, then it becomes very difficult to play him.”
Senior Patric Young said he knows how Walker feels finally being able to play for the Gators after much anticipation by fans. Like Walker, Young was also a highly touted big man with through-the-roof potential when he was a freshman in 2010.
And like Young, Walker is expected to bring energy to a packed O’Connell Center tonight.
“Just think about everything he’s going through to get to this now, and it’s finally here,” Young said.
“It’s probably a 15 on a scale of one to 10 of how excited he is right now.”
Follow Jonathan Czupryn on Twitter @jczupryn
Chris Walker (middle) watches from the bench during Florida’s 74-58 win against South Carolina on Jan. 8 in the O’Connell Center. Walker is expected to make his college debut against Missouri tonight at 9 p.m.
