Walker to forgo senior year, head to WNBA Departure doesn’t make sense in star’s developmental timeline
Junior and AAC player of the year surprises with announcement
Spending the better part of 20 years around college athletics has enlightened me to the point that I’m rarely surprised. Then crashing into my email inbox Saturday afternoon came UConn’s announcement that junior forward Megan Walker would leave school early and declare for the WNBA draft.
Silly me. I had settled into the first weekend of this new world expecting an indefinite absence of actual sports news when Walker — without a clue what she’s in for as a professional, I’d say — basically charged into my living room and beat me over the head with my laptop.
Initial thoughts: Is there even going to be a WNBA draft? Are training camps going to open
April 26 as scheduled? Heck, is there going to be a WNBA season?
Secondary thoughts: How could this possibly be in Walker’s best interest? She’s a nice player,
Friday morning, Geno Auriemma told reporters that he had no reason to think that anybody who would be able to return to the UConn women’s basketball team wouldn’t decide to, though you never know.
You never know, indeed. Saturday afternoon, junior Megan Walker announced that she would forego her final year of eligibility and declare for the 2020 WNBA Draft.
“After much consideration and thought with my family, I have decided to forgo my senior season and enter the WNBA draft,” Walker said in a statement. “Due to the unfortunate circumstances that caused the cancellation of the
NCAA Tournament, it saddens me that I was not able to finish my junior season in the way that I would have liked. I am, however, ready to move on to the next phase of my life and career.
“I would like to thank the University of Connecticut, my coaches, teammates, and the athletic staff for their support and for embracing me over the last three years. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank the fans for all their support and making me feel loved over my UConn career. I will forever be a Husky and wish the best for UConn in the future.”
Walker, this season’s AAC player of the year and the most outstanding player of the conference tournament, led the Huskies with 19.7 points this season while also averaging 8.4 rebounds.
“During a player’s college career, they’re working towards