Good for Walker

It is yesterday’s news, but I thought I’d weigh in on Judge Memorial all-stater Lewis Walker committing to Hawaii.

Good for him.

No matter how they spin the situation at the University of Utah, I do believe that Walker wasn’t treated fairly by the Utes. Basically, what it boils down to is this: they offered him a scholarship in the spring and he didn’t accept it on the spot. He tried to reach members of the Utes’ staff as early as September to commit, and no one returned his calls.

By the time he did get in touch with the Utes in early November, he was told there was no longer a scholarship for him there. They offered him ‘preferred walk-on status’ but that wasn’t enough to convince Walker to don the crimson red and stay close to home.

It was an unfortunate thing to happen to one of the nicest kids you could ever meet.

Rarely do you meet a star athlete that’s as well-grounded and charming as Walker. I met him last spring when he worked as an official for a few of my girls’ T-ball games. He worked well with the youngsters, helping them with their swings and reminding them to run to first base instead of third after they made contact with the ball.

That experience isn’t going to help him shut down receivers in the WAC. But it showed me that when he’s done playing football, he could probably make a big impact in working with kids.

Lewis’ senior season at Judge was far from a disappointment. He shared carries with several other players on offense, but still gained close to 1,600 all-purpose yards and scored 14 touchdowns. He was even named the school’s homecoming king in the midst of helping the Bulldogs to a second-place finish in Class 3A.

He seemed to be somewhat heartbroken by what happened with the Utes. Now he can forget about it and live and play college football in Hawaii for four years. Pretty nice gig if you can get it.

Walker will have a fellow Utahn on the roster at Hawaii in punter Tim Grasso. He’s also the second Judge player in as many years to leave the state and play for a Division I school. Cort Dennison signed with Washington last year.

I’m happy that everything turned out well for Walker. It’s proof that good things happen to good people.