After months of speculation from fans and media, five-star shooting guard M.J. Walker ended the drama on Wednesday morning when he announced he was signing with Florida State. The Georgia native cited his relationship with head coach Leonard Hamilton and assistant coach Charlton Young as playing a major role in his decision.
“I think it came down to relationships,” Walker said. “Me and the coaches, Coach ‘C.Y.’ and Coach Hamilton, have a great relationship from throughout the years and they just recruited me hard. I had good relationships with other coaches, too, but I feel like in my heart, Florida State was the best fit and the best situation for me.”
Walker, the No. 24 player in the 2017 Rivals150, chose the Seminoles over Georgia Tech, Ohio State, UCLA and Virginia Tech. Florida State had been considered the leader for a good chunk of his recruitment, but late official visits to Ohio State, UCLA and Virginia Tech along with an unofficial visit to Georgia Tech caused some doubt that he’d end up in Tallahassee.
“I would say it was about two or three days ago when I finally decided,” Walker said. “Me and my dad were talking about it and it was coming down to the last couple schools. He was asking me about why one school or why another school, and I just said, ‘Dad, I’m not going to lie to you, I feel like Florida State is where I need to be.'”
FSU was Walker's first official visit -- back in September -- and he said that set the bar for every other school in his recruitment.
“When I went to Florida State, the visit went great,” Walker said. “The relationship with them is great. I still wanted to get out and tour some other schools and see if there was something at other schools that I need to see. I didn’t want to go to just one school and be locked in. I wanted to explore my options and make sure it’s the school I want to go to.”
Now that his college choice is decided, Walker said he is excited to establish his niche in the Seminoles' offense.
“They basically want me to fill in the shoes of Dwayne Bacon and playing like Malik Beasley," Walker said. "They want me to come in and fill their spots and play my game and be tough and aggressive.”
The addition of Walker gives the Seminoles six players in the 2017 class. He joins four-star prospects RaiQuan Gray and Ikey Obiagu along with three-star prospects Bryan Trimble, Anthony Polite and Wyatt Wilkes.
