RB Kareem Walker Still Not Enrolled or Practicing at Mississippi St
November 19, 2018:
Walker, who spent the 2017 season at Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, has verbally committed to Mississippi State, he announced Sunday night on social media.
In a lengthy letter published to Twitter, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Walker called it a "difficult" last two years -- one that included his unexplained departure from Michigan....
"I needed to step back and gather myself refocus on my goals and I have," Walker wrote. "Attending Fort Scott was an eye opener, it really (put) into perspective where I was in life and what I needed to do to get where to where I want to be in life, again both on and off the field.
"I regained my humbleness, matured and open my mind to communicating with my mentors Dr. Greg Harden, Coach Bryan Murray the Riley family, my mother along with some people here in Kansas."
https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/2018/11/ex-michigan_rb_kareem_walker_c_1.html
August 3, 2019:
Mississippi State opened fall camp Friday in Starkville, and running back signee Kareem Walker has yet to join the team. Walker is the last remaining signee in the 2019 recruiting class who isn’t practicing yet....
“Yes, he’s finishing up a few administrative items academically,” Moorhead said after practice. “It should be very, very early next week.”
Video starts at that point:
“These people were very real and genuine in their concern for their athletes and not just focused on what you can do for us,” Walker wrote when he committed to Mississippi State. “Coach Moorehead was open and honest, Coach Huff is a tremendous coach and will be a great life mentor as well.”...
He (Walker) helped his New Jersey high school team to three straight national titles. He had ridiculous high school numbers — over 4,500 yards rushing and 55 touchdowns.
The Bulldogs are hoping he can rekindle some of that magic in Starkville.
August 23, 2019:
The lone member of the signing class of 2019 still waiting approval from the NCAA clearinghouse is former Michigan running back Kareem Walker. Walker enrolled at Fort Scott Community College (KS) after two years as a member of the Wolverine football program. The former Under Armour All-American selection signed on with the Bulldogs in an attempt to reboot his college football career.
Walker was originally expected to be a spring semester enrollee, but the December signing period came and went without Walker signing. The New Jersey native inked in February and set his sights on a summer enrollment....
The final date for Walker to enroll for fall classes at Mississippi State appears to be August 28th, the school's drop/add date for the fall semester.
August 25th, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
Good question. I wonder how much Michigan has to take the word of the recruit's high school about the quality of classes and transcripts, etc. But it also seems like Walker either didn't know how to or didn't want to do the academic work necessary once he was here. Football players obviously get a lot of legit academic support at Michigan so maybe that's how he was on the field on 2017, but I'd love to see a deeper investigation of your question.
August 25th, 2019 at 1:51 PM ^
LOL, Walker enrolled early. He obviously had no clearinghouse issues coming out of high school.
I doubt Michigan ever had to deal with the NCAA regarding him. Most likely he needed to raise his GPA during the summer term and they had to wait on his grades before they knew whether he'd be eligible.
August 25th, 2019 at 1:33 PM ^
Will always wish Kareem the best and appreciate him for picking Michigan over OSU.
August 25th, 2019 at 5:28 PM ^
I feel for the young man. You know, in such limited action I saw him and said ‘gee, that guy looks good!’ Hopefully he can shine somewhere before his eligibility is out.
August 25th, 2019 at 5:36 PM ^
It seems if he wanted immediate eligibility he picked the wrong MSU