Erlanger's EJ Walker commits to South Carolina
Lamont Paris continues to dip into the Kentucky high school basketball pool at South Carolina. This time, though, he hopes this pledge actually ends up in Columbia suiting up for the Gamecocks.
2024 four-star wing Trent Noah originally signed with USC before backing away from his pledge and returning home to suit up for the Wildcats in Lexington. Now, three-star power forward EJ Walker has committed to Paris and South Carolina, the third of the Gamecocks’ 2025 recruiting class.
It was a Big Ten victory for USC, Walker picking the Cocks over Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Purdue, among other offers.
The 6-8, 220-pound forward announced his commitment this weekend.
“I’m really excited to be a Gamecock,” Walker told GamecockCentral. “What made me choose South Carolina was just we built a good relationship with Coach (Lamont) Paris. On my visit, we built our relationship with all the other coaches because they were all around the whole time, and I liked that a lot. I really just think I’m going to get an opportunity to play, use my versatility, and play my game. I think it’s going to be a good opportunity.”
Walker comes in at No. 125 overall, No. 28 among power forwards and No. 2 in Kentucky in the class of 2025 according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average for the four major recruiting media sites.
He joins Hickory (N.C.) Moravian Prep four-star shooting guard Eli Ellis and Greenville (S.C.) Powdersville PF Hayden Assemenian in South Carolina’s 2025 recruiting class.
Kentucky did not express interest in the three-star forward out of Erlanger. Mark Pope and the Wildcats have, however, prioritized five-star guard Jasper Johnson out of Lexington and four-star center Malachi Moreno out of Georgetown.
With the state developing blue-chip talent year after year, Pope can’t take every single high-profile recruit to come through Kentucky. This one, though, will be a conference foe for the Wildcats moving forward.
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