Virginia Tech Feels Confident In Pursuit Of Five-Star Guard MJ Walker

Editor

May 13, 2017, 03:00 AM

Over the weekend, five-star shooting guard MJ Walker took an official visit to Virginia Tech which according to our source went quite well and has the Hokies as a serious contender to gain Walker's commitment with the 247 Sports Crystal Ball trending towards Walker. Over the 48 hours, we've been hearing that Virginia Tech is confident that they can get Walker with a source telling us that it is "pretty realistic" that the Hokies can gain the commitment of Walker. This source also confirms that his visit went quite well all around for not only Walker but also his parents which is definitely a positive at this point in the process. Our source also told us that the battle for Walker is down to three ACC schools in Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Georgia Tech. There is no doubt that the Hokies have the momentum at this point receiving the last official visit with Walker likely very close to making a decision given how late we are in the recruiting cycle for the Class of 2017 with very few recruits still on the market at this point. However, Georgia Tech undoubtedly has some advantages as the in-state school that had a solid first season under Josh Pastner while Leonard Hamilton and Florida State have plenty of opportunity available with both Dwayne Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes declaring for the NBA Draft. One concern for the Hokies is that there isn't a clear path for a scholarship for Walker currently but our source told us that the Hokies do have a plan for getting Walker a scholarship if he chooses the Hokies. One other interesting tidbit is that Walker does have a Virginia Tech connection in former VT linebacker Michael Hawkes who started for the Hokies in 1998 and 1999, and is Walker's uncle. This connection likely can only be beneficial for the Hokies as they look to seal the deal on what would undoubtedly be the best recruiting class in program history if they were able to get Walker. 5/8 Update: According to Jon Rothstein of CBS and FanRag Sports, five-star SG MJ Walker took an official visit to Ohio State this past weekend. https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/861563571456663552 From what we are hearing, Ohio State is looking into giving him the opportunity to play both basketball and football for the Buckeyes with Walker being previously highly recruited as a football recruit as well with offers from schools like Clemson, Michigan, Florida, Auburn, Miami, Ole Miss, UNC, and Duke before shifting his focus to basketball full time around his junior year. We are also hearing that Virginia Tech is not considering that dual-sport athlete option at this point though that definitely could change. Despite this, Virginia Tech still seems to be the favorite and the Hokies remain confident they can get Walker though everyday that the wait continues makes this recruitment cloudier while his Ohio State visit has added another player into his recruitment. Update 5/13 https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/863397388567924736 Jon Rothstein of CBS and FanRag Sports is reporting that MJ Walker will take an official visit to UCLA this weekend. Virginia Tech still is the favorite for Walker entering this visit, but with Walker taking another visit, it does make things more uncertain especially with the prestige of UCLA. With Walker taking this official, we should be nearing the end of Walker's recruitment with it being likely Walker makes a commitment next week.