Walker Kessler: 'I have some Georgia blood in me – a lot of it'
RANKINGS: 2018 Rivals150 | 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2018 Team | 2018 Position
Walker Kessler is the No. 29 prospect in the 2020 class on Rivals.com. He is listed as a 6-foot-10, 200-pound power forward. Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt have offered the talented four-star. Florida could be next. The Gators are one of many schools showing a lot of interest.
Georgia’s interest is high in the elite talent in its backyard and it hopes family helps. His father, brother and uncle all played basketball at Georgia. His mother also called Athens home when she was in college, so the highly recruited sophomore has a strong connection to the in-state school.
He is a Georgia legacy.
“I have some Georgia blood in me — a lot of it,” said Kessler. “I have grown up around the University of Georgia and I know a lot about it. I love the campus. It is a great place and I grew up a big Georgia football, Georgia basketball and just a Georgia fan of any sport. I love Georgia.”
There is a new era beginning in Athens now with the hiring of Tom Crean as the new coach last month. Not long after Crean was announced, he hit the road to recruit and one of his first stops was Woodward Academy to check on Kessler.
“Coach Crean stopping by meant a lot to me," he said. "I know he is a great coach who likes guys like me. I saw him coach at Indiana and he recruited many players like me — the tall, lanky or more of the finesse type. He is a great coach and I was very happy that he came when he did because he made me feel like a priority. I wasn’t expecting that at all, so it really helps my standing with Georgia.”
The first impression was strong and Kessler will have his eye on Crean in the coming months.
“I liked his approach and how he was asking me a lot about me, my life, my family and things like that," he said. "He was a nice guy, he didn’t seem fake and he was trying to get to know me. Now we will just get to know each other and I want to learn what type of coach he is.
“I know he did a great job at Indiana and he really seems like a player’s coach. I know he has coached guys like Dwyane Wade and Cody Zeller and really helped them become great players, so him developing players like that stands out to me.
“I want to get to over to Georgia this summer to watch the team work out and learn more about coach Crean.”
Recruiting is the lifeblood to every program in every sport. Crean is still putting his staff together at Georgia and Kessler will keep a close eye on that too.
“I want to see what coach Crean can do in recruiting, then I will watch Georgia a lot when they play this year,” said Kessler. “Coach Crean is a little more outgoing than coach [Mark] Fox was, so we will see if that helps Georgia with recruiting. That is so important because a lot of (prospects) know each other in basketball because of AAU, so we have guys we would love to play with on the next level.
“I also want to see their style of play and just learn about Crean’s style. I want to see how he develops the players at Georgia now and what he does in recruiting there — those things will be very important to me.”
Vanderbilt is Georgia’s biggest competition right now. He likes Vandy's coaching staff and the recruiting class they are bringing in this year. If Crean shows Kessler that he can coach and recruit over the next 12 months, the Bulldogs could be hard to beat in the end.
“The sooner the better for me as far as committing," he said. "I cannot see it going past the summer before my senior year. That is the latest. This summer will be jam-packed for me with visits, so I will commit as soon as I am ready.
“I have always grown up loving Georgia, so Georgia will always be one of my top schools no matter what offers I get. I have great history there. I like coach Crean so far and I can’t wait to see what he does at Georgia.”
