Most could see the writing the on the wall but it is now official, Florida Gator signee Chirs Walker has been ruled academically ineligible to enroll this fall at the the University of Florida. Despite the unfortunate news, Walker does still plan on enrolling at Florida for the start of the spring semester. As of now, Walker hopes to enroll and immediately start playing in December.
There is no doubting that Walker is a talented player and one that will certainly be a force whenever he arrives on the college scene. That being said, the loss of the McDonald’s All-American is not as big a blow to Florida as it may sound.
Walker was primed to be a key reserve for the Gators at a position that Florida will have a ton of depth at this season. With talented frontcourt options already in Will Yeguete, Patric Young, Dorian Finney-Smith and Casey Prather, the Gators will have no trouble patching up any hole left behind by Walker’s absence on campus.
The next question mark to be answered for the Gators is the status of Rutgers-transfer, shooting guard Eli Carter. Carter has appealed to the NCAA so that he may play immediately instead of having to sit out this upcoming season. SNY.tv reported last week that the Rutgers transfers following Coach Mike Rice’s removal are “expected” to be cleared by the NCAA soon.
Carter would provide a solid shooting guard option for Florida this upcoming season. The Rutgers-transfer averaged nearly 15 points a game and 2 assists last season for the Scarlet Nights. In fact, the biggest game of Carter’s career was a 31-point explosion in a win against Florida in Piscataway in 2011.
Carter is currently recovering from an injury but his presence would give Florida another strong option at the shooting guard position to go along with sophomore Michael Frazier. The shooting guard position is currently facing huge depth concerns with the uncertain future of point guard Scottie Wilbekin still in the balance and limited options available. For now, the Gators wait to hear about Carter’s status for the upcoming season.
I don’t expect Wilbekin to miss a ton of time this season but the Gators will need to be ready, as they will be tested early and often with a trip to play at Wisconsin in just their second game of the regular season.