Florida Gators announce 2013 signees Hill, Walker

By Adam Silverstein
November 14, 2012

The Florida Gators officially announced Wednesday that two of the top high school basketball players in the country – five-stars point guard Kasey Hill (Clermont, FL) and power forward Chris Walker (Bonifay, FL) – have signed and submitted their National Letters of Intent to play for Florida beginning in the 2013-14 season.

Hill and Walker, each ranked in the top-10 nationally by all of the major recruiting services, are a huge 1-2 punch for the Gators as they look to replace at least three players who are set to leave following the 2012-13 campaign. The players are close friends and have been AAU teammates over the last few years.

“How they rank to the rest of the country, doesn’t really matter to me because there are so many things they bring to the table,” head coach Billy Donovan told Florida’s website. “Being in-state guys, I’ve had a chance to watch them grow over a three-year period and I understand what we’ll be getting. They’re athletic, with speed and quickness and competiveness. They both have a chance to have tremendous careers here.”

Walker is the first big man the Gators have signed out of high school since Florida added a trio of players, including center Patric Young, as part of its 2010 class.

“The best frontcourt players to come through here — the Horfords, Haslems, Bonners, Noahs — they could all really run,” assistant coach Matt McCall said. “And Chris Walker can really run.”

Donovan, a former point guard, is equally excited at what Hill (a former teammate of freshman guard Michael Frazier II at Montverde Academy) brings to the table as the highest-rated floor general signed by the Gators since Anthony Roberson in 2002.

“He’s just a presence on the floor. Great vision,” he said of Hill.

Most exciting for Florida fans is that Donovan and his staff are not done just yet. Though the Gators will not add another player as part of the early signing period, Florida is in the running for a trio of uncommitted five-star players including forward Jabari Parker (Chicago, IL), PF Julius Randle (Plano, TX) and C Dakari Johnson (Montverde, FL). The second National Signing Day is set for April 17, 2013.

7 Comments

  1. Alex says:

    I know basketball is supposed to be super shady, but the recruiting just seems so much more settled. I feel like you never really see a high-profile guy commit and decommit like you do in football. Maybe I just don’t pay as much attention to it, but it really seems like a commitment becomes a signee most of the time.

  2. Ken (CA) says:

    Great to have these 2 locked in. Do they seem like they are good enough to be one and done, or are they likely to stick around a bit?

    Also, how many spots do we have available. Julius Randle sounds a lot like pretty much of a lock at this point, but are the coaching staff trying to get just one of those 3 or all 3 if possible?

    • gatorboi352 says:

      Walker has actually tweeted previously that he plans to be one and done. As happy as I am to have him on the team next year, honestly he doesn’t even seem to be much of a ‘Billy kid’ at all (think: Pat Young or Yeguette) and only committed to Florida after Kasey did. I look for Billy to have the same struggles with Walker as he did Rosario.

      It all depends on Kasey’s mental make up, but talent wise he too could totally be a one and done.

  3. JS says:

    Decommits happen.. We’ve had a few in my recent memory and Terrence jones committed to Washington only to go to UK.

    Some say Walker and Hill could both be one and dones but walker would be more likely to leave early… Look at Braxton Ogbueze’s brother’s tweets.. He is already saying UF might not be the best fit for Braxton, he might leave especially with Hill coming in.. I doubt Pat leaves early. He could but I doubt it. I hope we get Parker or Randle!

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