Jarace Isaiah Walker ( ; born September 4, 2003) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education instr ...

. He was a consensus five-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * ''Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (En ...

and one of the top players in the 2022 class.

High school career

Walker attended

Susquehannock High School Susquehannock High School is a mid-sized suburban public high school in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania. It is the sole high school operated by the Southern York County School District. In 2014, enrollment was reported as 946 pupils in 9th through 12th gr ...

York County, Pennsylvania York County ( Pennsylvania Dutch: Yarrick Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 456,438. Its county seat is York. The county was created on August 19, 1749, from part of Lancaster ...

for his freshman year before transferring to IMG Academy in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...

. As a senior, he averaged 16.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and four assists per game. He was selected to play in the 2022 McDonalds All-American Game.

Recruiting

Walker was a consensus five-star

and one of the top players in the 2022 class, according to major recruiting services. On November 4, 2021, he committed to playing college basketball for

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

over offers from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Professional career

Indiana Pacers (2023—present)

The

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

selected Walker with the eighth overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft and traded him to the

along with two future second-round picks for the draft rights to

Bilal Coulibaly Bilal Coulibaly ( ; ; born 26 July 2004) is a French professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the Metropolitans 92 of LNB Pro A prior to being selected seventh overall by ...

, the seventh overall pick. Walker became the highest-drafted prospect from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

since Hall-of-Famer

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian Americans, Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Ass ...

was taken with the first overall pick by the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. On July 1, 2023, Walker signed his rookie contract with the Pacers alongside the 26th overall pick Ben Sheppard.

Personal life

Walker is the son of Marcia and Horace Walker. He has three older sisters: Jaden, Natichia and Sherelle. Sherelle played volleyball at

UMBC The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

and sister Jaden played basketball at Saint Joseph's.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

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Playoffs

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College

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References

External links

Houston Cougars bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Jarace 2003 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Baltimore IMG Academy alumni Indiana Mad Ants players Indiana Pacers players Houston Cougars men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Power forwards Susquehannock High School alumni Washington Wizards draft picks