You knew it wouldn't be long before Bill Walker's soap opera competed with former teammate O.J. Mayo's for ratings.Mayo made headlines when he transferred away from North College Hill (Ohio) High to Huntington, W.Va. last month. In the latest chapter of the duo's saga, Walker is now rumored to be attempting to graduate early from NCH so he can attend Kansas State by midseason.Walker, who also played with Mayo on their summer league team, the D1 Greyhounds, was ruled ineligible to play for North College Hill this season by the Ohio High School Activities Association because he had exhausted his eligibility.There are a number of problems, though, with the stories swirling about Walker, according to a source close to Kansas State.1. Walker hasn't committed to Kansas State yet.2. Walker still hasn't taken his standardized college admissions test yet.3. Until he takes the test, he can't visit Kansas State, which is why reports of a Sept. 23 campus visit aren't true at this point. The hope is that Walker takes a standardized test on Monday or on Oct. 14, the latter potentially pushing a campus visit deep into October, right up against the signing period in early November.4. Walker still has to graduate from high school.5. Even if he does do that, he would have to go through the NCAA Clearinghouse, where there certainly would be red flags hoisted if he quickly got through school and immediately got a qualifying test score (suspicion is the name of the game at the clearinghouse with household name recruits). USC's Daniel Hackett, who graduated early to join USC's team for this season, essentially had to get approval from USC before he went ahead. And he still had to go through the Clearinghouse this fall after finishing his class requirements over the summer. Hackett started the process of graduating early this past spring, giving him ample time to digest what he had to accomplish.6. If Walker were to somehow get all this done, he would forfeit playing in the spring high school all-star games, including Sonny Vaccaro's Roundball Classic, which would be an affront to his basketball mentor. Sure, it's just an all-star game, but to these highly touted players, these games mean something.7. Another source close to this situation said there is a strong chance that Walker will still pursue challenging the NBA draft rule in the spring, since he would be old enough to enter the draft and his original high school class graduated this past spring. Playing a few months for Kansas State could jeopardize his draft position if he didn't perform up to his potential.Don't think for a second, though, that all of these scenarios aren't being discussed within the Walker camp.Kansas State head coach Bob Huggins did conduct a home visit last weekend with Walker, but no commitment was given, according to a source. The anticipation is that Walker will sign with K-State -- if he goes to college -- but to push all of this on a fast track over the next three months may not make sense.Kansas State is a potential NCAA team this season, but it doesn't behoove the Wildcats to force this plan, either, just to get Walker for the Big 12 season. The plan is for the Wildcats to be a serious national player in 2007-08 with the likelihood that fellow class of 2007 stud Michael Beasley would be in uniform as well.
Also, how did you become a "KSU troll" so quickly?Great job.
