The Colorado Buffaloes are still holding out hope that Jabari Walker will return to Boulder for the 2022-2023 season.
Head coach Tad Boyle recently admitted that Walker has not made a decision despite reports surfacing that he hired an agent.
Nonetheless, Walker’s NBA Draft status is set to get a massive inspection over the next few weeks, and there is a lot to like about Walker’s game.
The Buffs star received an invite for the NBA combine and has quickly drawn rave reviews from notable draft experts, including Mike Schmitz of ESPN, who had the pleasure of seeing Walker live in action.
Great to see Colorado standout forward Jabari Walker workout earlier this week. The 19-year-old sophomore was outstanding over his last 10 games: 16.7 PTS and 10.8 REBS in just 30.2 MIN while shooting 48% from 2 and 45% from 3. Aggressive at 6-9 with a versatile scoring attack. pic.twitter.com/kCR8PbT7dp
— Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) May 13, 2022
Schmitz sees the best of the best every single year, so him speaking highly of Walker is a massive step in the right direction.
Schmitz wasn’t the only one to discuss Walker in the past few weeks, either.
I expect Jabari Walker to play some minutes at center in the NBA. Despite being undersized at 6-foot-9, he has great positioning qualities at the post.
Will win a ton of offensive box-outs: the 8.9 offensive rebounding rate is a good indicator of his rebounding translating. pic.twitter.com/hfkNyE112T
— Ersin Demir (@EDemirNBA) May 9, 2022
Walker was a second-round choice in a mock draft by Bleacher Report, and if he performs well at the NBA Combine, then his chances will go up and a return to Boulder will look even more unlikely.
We will continue to monitor Walker’s draft profile as it gets closer, and if you are holding out hope for a return in 2022-2023, don’t count on it for much longer at this rate.
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