NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 8 team finalists for 2023 5-star guard Ja’Kobe Walter

Ja’Kobe Walter, a national top-20 NCAA Basketball prospect and #2 overall in the state of Texas, provided a key update to his recruitment this week with the release of his top-8 schools.

The 6’5” junior for McKinney HS (TX), who recently announced a transfer to Link Academy for his senior season, is still considering Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma, Seton Hall, Texas, and UCLA. Over the last several seasons, Walter has shown strong development in his overall development playing for grassroots organization Team Trae Young (OK).

He is battle-hardened after years of playing against class of 2022 5-stars Keyonte George (Baylor), Cason Wallace (Kentucky), Arterio Morris (Texas), Anthony Black (Arkansas), and Jordan Walsh (Arkansas).

That experience has positioned him to be the current scoring leader on the Adidas 3SSB grassroots circuit, with 24.5 PPG, and a shoo-in to be an immediate impact player at the college ranks. Walter is a premier shot creator and displays high-level comfort anywhere on the offensive end. He has a great feel for the game and doesn’t force the issue while utilizing his length to impact the outcome with effort plays on the glass and on defense.

With the advent of the NIL era, one of these programs landing Walter is set to be incredibly important towards maintaining strong play on the court. Analyzing his options, I detail which landing spots may provide the best on-court situations for his services.