Deone Walker as-advertised to open camp: "He's a special talent."

Standing 6-foot-6, 330 pounds, you won’t find many players built like Kentucky freshman defensive lineman Deone Walker. You also won’t find many players who can move the way the Detroit, Mich. native can, either.

Combine the two, and there’s a reason Walker was rated as a four-star, top-300 prospect out of high school and held offers from the likes of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan and Penn State, among others.

Arriving on campus this summer, it hasn’t taken long for the highly-touted freshman to turn heads. For head coach Mark Stoops, that’s to be expected. The program had high hopes for Walker when he signed with the Wildcats, and to open fall camp, he’s lived up to the hype.

“Deone has done a really nice job,” Stoops said Saturday. “You know, he’s a really great young man who works hard. You can see the athletic ability in him. He’s just got to stay the course. There are going to be ups and downs, but unbelievable talent. He’s exactly what we thought when we recruited him.”

Walker was named to the Detroit Free Press All-State Dream Team in 2021 after racking up 43 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and six sacks in seven games. Now, he’s hoping to bring a similar level of production with him to Lexington.

If you ask Kentucky linebacker Jacquez Jones, you may not have to wait long for that production to start rolling in.

“Man, Deone, that’s a different cat right there,” Jones said. “He’s so big and the way he moves, I feel like Deone, he’s just special. He’s special. Nobody that big should be able to move like that. He’s a special talent.”

Freshman Deone Walker opened the #BBN's eyes at Kentucky Football Fan Day. "He's a special talent," said Jacquez Jones. pic.twitter.com/mowey3QXh5
— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) August 6, 2022

He was a late commitment on National Signing Day in December for the Wildcats, a pledge that left the Kentucky coaching staff giddy for him to arrive on campus.

“No. 3 player in Michigan in Deone Walker, and you talk about size, the length on him is amazing. Terrific player,” Stoops said on NSD. “… (He) was a big, big get. (Our coaches) did a great job going into Detroit and keeping that streak alive and continuing to recruit and beat some terrific teams on him, and we felt good but never really secure.”

“Big, long, massive young man, very explosive,” Kentucky defensive line coach Anwar Stewart added. “Very athletic, very active. I’m gonna tell you guys something, one thing that’s really special about this young man is he’s big, he’s athletic, but he also has a motor. … Really, really excited about the future of this young man, can’t wait to get my hands on him.”