By LARRY VAUGHT
Even though Deone Walker is now an All-American defensive lineman at Kentucky and a projected high first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, he had only one scholarship offer after his sophomore season at Cass Tech (Michigan).
He started getting more attention but a month into his junior season he had offers only from Michigan, Pittsburgh and Michigan State. A few months after his season ended he got offers from Virginia Tech and Kentucky. Soon he blew up and offers from numerous national powers came rolling in.
“Everybody didn’t know how good he was and then his high school coach took him and a couple of other guys on a SEC road trip to Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia. After that, our phone would not stop ringing,” said Deone Walker Sr. “It’s funny how it all went. Michigan came to the school to look at another player, saw Deone working out and asked who that kid was. The COVID year when he was a sophomore definitely slowed recruiting some but it all worked out okay.”
Even though Kentucky won the recruiting battle, that was not his father’s preference at the time.
“I didn’t want him to go to Kentucky. I wanted him to go to Michigan or Georgia. He wanted to play SEC football so that cut Michigan out. He wanted not to play with the best but against the best. He also trusted coach (Mark) Stoops the most,” Walker Sr. said.
“That was hard for me but me and my wife gave our input and left it to him. Every school he considered was good. He had a top 15, then a top 10 and then a top five and was really a top three.”
The UK player’s mother had him list pros and cons of his final three schools and when the defensive lineman did not like a few things on his visit to UK she had him “voice his opinion” to the UK coaches about what he did not like.
“They ironed out what he didn’t like,” Walker Sr. said.
The UK junior has developed a special relationship with defensive line coach Anwar Stewart, one reason he never considered transferring, but it did not start out that way.
“Coach Stewart was cool but we were not sure about him at the beginning. He did everything he told Deone he was going to do and has pushed him to make him the best player he can be,” Walker Sr. said.
When he needs motivation from home, it likely will come from his mother.
“My wife is tough. I am more lenient with him. She is more in his face and tougher on him,” Walker Sr. said. “He may not want to hear some things just like most of us don’t but when it makes sense he knows we are going to tell him like it is.”
The UK junior’s parents always thought he could be an elite player. He started practicing with a Little League team at age 5 even though he was not allowed to play until he was 7 years old.
“My nephew is like a big bother to him and Deone would go to practice with him until he got old enough to play. He used to actually cry at practice but he went from that to being the last one to leave. He would just stay there and work even as a kid. Once he caught on, he has always been a leader of the defense for any team he has been on,” Walker Sr. said.
He’s also been a productive basketball player at times and started playing in elementary school. His father said basketball made his footwork better.
“He could shoot but he did not like to shoot. He liked to draw the defense and then pass,” Walker’s father said. “We had to yell at him to shoot because he loves passing. He’s just always been a team guy.”
What he didn’t always love to do was talk. His father said he was “always quiet and gave one-word answers” to questions in high school.
“He would give you the fewest words possible. He would not elaborate on anything,” Walker Sr. said. “I worked a lot. I was a semi-driver and had a lawn service. My days were long and busy. He let it go on for five months before he told me he was having trouble seeing. He just didn’t elaborate on anything.
“Now it amazes us when we watch him doing interviews. I will post an interview (on social media) and friends will still ask when did Deone start talking like that. Nobody believes it but he usually doesn’t even tell us when he does an interview.”
Walker has a lot to talk about considering he has 29 quarterback sacks in 31 games at UK despite almost always being double teamed. He has 110 total tackles and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin recently said he was “unblockable” and Pro Football Focus currently has him projected as a top 20 pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope still remembers looking at over 1,500 names in the transfer portal and checking analytics to try and find the “perfect 3 man” for his first UK team.
Then one player jumped out at Pope — Dayton transfer Koby Brea.
“He was just perfect for us in so many ways. We are talking about who we need at lead guard, shooting guards, wings and 5 (center) and I said, ‘Guys (coaches) we have got to go get him,’” Pope said.
Brea is a two-time Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year and shot 49.8 percent from 3-point range last year when he averaged three made 3’s per game.
He has played in 113 games with 21 starts and helped Dayton win 85 games the last four years. He averaged 11.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game last season.
“He has the size, length and mobility you want along with being deadly from 3,” Pope said. “He can find ways to get his shot off and we are so glad to have him. He was the most efficient mid-to-high major 3-point shooter in the country last year. He’s a beautiful piece for us.
“He’s from the Dominican Republic. His dad is the salt of the earth. He had an injury-filled third year at Dayton, had surgery after the year ended and spent most of the summer before his fourth year in a wheelchair.
“He had a massive surgery and came back and had one of the most efficient single seasons by a mid or high-major player in over a decade at 1.33 points per possession,” the UK coach said. “He is what we were looking for as a person, teammate, worker and talent. So you’ve got to believe in a guy like that.”
Kentucky fans will get a chance to see him in the Blue-White Event Friday or Big Blue Madness Oct. 18.
Junior middle hitter Garrison Saylors of Calhoun, Ga., said it was not a hard decision to make when she verbally committed to play for coach Craig Skinner at Kentucky.
“It was always my dream school. I love the coaching staff and all they have done at Kentucky,” Saylors said. “It’s close to home but also far enough away. When Kentucky offered, I knew it was the one place I wanted to go.”
She knows UK freshman outside hitter Hannah Benjamin, who is redshirting this season due to an injury, but has been to enough UK matches to also appreciate the environment Skinner has created.
“I know how much the UK players love the game and the fight they have. If you are in the gym or even watching on TV you can tell the excitement and enthusiasm the players have and how much the coaches enjoy watching them reach their goals,” Saylors said. “And the fans always look so excited.
“I went to the UK camp for the first time this year and the coaches made it seem like a college practice. They made it very relatable but also a lot of fun while we were learning.”
Saylors, 16, had other offers when Skinner offered but she wasted no time telling him yes. She admits she was an easy sell for Skinner.
“I had some backup offers but Kentucky is what I wanted,” she said.
The 6-3 Saylors didn’t start “high level volleyball” until last year and knows she has plenty of room to improve before getting to Kentucky.
“I am pretty good at running things with my setters but I need work on my blocking,” she said. “I have a strong arm. I think I am pretty good at making shots when the setter is off and still wants me as an option.”
She was a swimmer until age 12 but she loved volleyball and dropped swimming in middle school. She joined a better volleyball travel team last year to push her more and plans to keep doing that.
Saylors has a 4.0 grade-point average and says she “puts a lot of pressure on myself” to maintain high grades.
“I hold myself to a high standard,” the UK commit said.
When she has a chance to do something other than play volleyball, she likes to bake with her family, play pickleball or go hiking.
“I just like being outside. I am not the best at pickleball but if it is an outside sport, I’ll do it,” she said.
High school football recruiting consultant/analyst Dave Berk knows talent in Ohio after first working for Scout.com and then starting his own business in 2016. That’s why when he saw Jayden Clark play in 2022 when he was a sophomore offensive lineman, he really liked what he saw and knew he could be a Division I player.
“He showed the ability to move laterally with good bend at the knees. He had solid tools early, but missed his junior season with an injury. He has come back stronger this season,” Berk said.The 6-4, 305-pound offensive lineman from Northmont (Ohio) High School verbally committed to Kentucky last week. He chose the Wildcats over West Virginia, Cincinnati and others after UK won at Ole Miss.
Berk was not surprised with Clark’s choice considering he had made several visits to UK.
“(Recruiting coordinator) Vince (Marrow) continues to do a great job of connecting with young people and selling the UK brand of playing in the SEC for a head coach who has stability in his job,” Berk said.
Clark missed his junior season after tearing a knee ligament at a recruiting event that caused some schools to back off. Kentucky stayed connected with the three-star prospect, who has a 3.8 grade-point average, and it paid off.
“He plays in a great high school conference that produces talent every year. He will come in well balanced as a run blocker and in pass pro. He has been challenged but I feel his best football has yet to be played,” Berk said.
Quote of the Week: “He doesn’t care about what he does individually as long as his team wins. For a fan base I would think there is nothing better than one of your players totally locked in on that, especially in today’s landscape with other things driving commitments in some places,” Great Crossing coach Steve Page on UK commit Malachi Moreno.
Quote of the Week 2: “The ovation was awesome. Being on the field and seeing renovations to the stadium was really cool. The fan support at Kentucky is something I also felt was underrated. Kentucky just has wonderful fans who are always so supportive of the football program,” former UK defensive lineman Corey Peters after his induction into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame.
Quote of the Week 3: “The surprise here at Kentucky practice has been freshman guard Collin Chandler. Former BYU commit hasn’t played in a bit due to a Mormon Mission, but is really talented. Going to be in the Wildcats’ rotation,” CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein after watching Mark Pope’s team practice.