Florida Gators G/F DeVon Walker tears ACL, likely to miss 2014-15 season

By Adam Silverstein
July 19, 2014

Florida Gators junior guard/forward DeVon Walker “is expected to miss the 2014-15 season” after tearing his ACL, according to CBSSports.com’s Jeff Borzello.

A spokesman for the team confirmed Walker’s injury to OnlyGators.com early Monday morning.

Walker, who transferred from Florida last offseason over play time concerns but eventually decided to return to the Gators in a reserve role, wound up making seven starts and playing in 35 games in 2013-14.

Though he averaged 2.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per game last season, Walker came up big for Florida in some tough circumstances in Southeastern Conference play when he drained 8-of-14 threes over a five-game stretch. He also played solid defense throughout the year. Additionally, there were three separate five-game stretches during the season in which he averaged 20 minutes or more per game.

Walker being out of commission does not spell doom for the Gators though he was expected to be part of Florida’s regular rotation as a reserve at the two and three. Junior Michael Frazier II returns as the starting shooting guard for UF.

The Gators hope to have redshirt sophomore G Dillon Graham back in the fold after he underwent season-ending surgery to repair bone spurs in his hips. Redshirt junior G Eli Carter should also be available for Florida now more than a year removed from a broken leg suffered during the 2012-13 campaign that sidelined him for most of last year.

UF’s three-member 2014 recruiting class also includes a pair of wing players in five-star F Devin Robinson (Christchurch, VA) and four-star G Brandone Francis (Jacksonville, FL). Though both were expected to get run next season, there are now even more minutes to go around.

3 Comments

  1. Michael Jones says:

    Major bummer, man. Was looking for Devon to make a huge jump this year in all areas and be a major contributor next year. I think his upside is huge.

    Sorry for the bad news, Devon! Get better, buddy!

  2. Ryan says:

    It stinks that he got hurt but I didn’t see him getting much more playing time than he got last year.. He always seemed scared when he had the ball. You could tell by some of his shots he was very nervous. I was hoping he would snap out of that mentally but we’ll have to see when he returns.

    • Michael Jones says:

      I have to agree with some of that, Ryan. I think “tentative” is a better word but maybe that’s just a nicer way of saying the same thing.

      There were times when he would step up with confidence and launch a 3 but in big games or critical situations his confidence levels would be up and down, especially if his 1st shot didn’t fall. I think that mental part of the game is one of the areas in which I was hoping he would make a jump.

      But he’s long, rangy, and quick. . seems to be a good kid. . good athleticism. . and I’ll bet he shoots really well in practice. . . just needs that confidence and mental toughness, like you say.

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