Walker Ross Kessler (born July 26, 2001) 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 Utah Jazz 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

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

and

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

High school career

Kessler played basketball for Woodward Academy in

College Park, Georgia College Park is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton and Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton counties, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 United States Census, 20 ...

. In his senior season, he averaged 17.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.2 blocks per game, leading his team to its first Class 4A state title. Kessler was named ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' Player of the Year,

Mr. Georgia Basketball Each year the Mr. Georgia Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best high school boys basketball player in the U.S. state of Georgia. The award winner is selected by members of the Atlanta Tip Off Club. Award winners See also Mis ...

and Georgia

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

. He was a McDonald's All-American selection. Kessler competed for Game Elite on the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

circuit.

Recruiting

A consensus five-star recruit and one of the top

centers Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

in the 2020 class, he committed to playing college basketball for

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

over offers from

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Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and Vanderbilt, among others.

College career

North Carolina (2020–2021)

On March 10, 2021, Kessler posted 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks in a 101–59 win over Notre Dame in the second round of the ACC tournament. He set a North Carolina freshman record and an ACC Tournament record for blocks in a game. As a freshman, he averaged 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

Auburn (2021–2022)

Following the season, Kessler transferred to

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 ...

, choosing the Tigers over Gonzaga. On December 29, 2021, he posted a triple-double of 16 points, a career-high 11 blocks and 10 rebounds against

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. On January 25th, Kessler received SEC Player of the Week honors following strong performances against Georgia and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. Kessler was regarded one of the nations premier shot blockers, setting the Auburn single season block record, leading the nation in blocks and recording more blocks than all but 13 teams. At the conclusion of the regular season, Kessler was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, a member of the All-SEC First Team and a 3rd Team All American. On April 3, 2022, Kessler declared for the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

, forgoing his remaining college eligibility.

Professional career

Utah Jazz (2022–present)

Kessler was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the 22nd overall pick before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, alongside

TyTy Washington Tyrone Lewis Washington Jr. (born November 15, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League. He played c ...

, for Jake LaRavia. Two weeks after being drafted, he was traded along with Patrick Beverley,

Jarred Vanderbilt Jarred Jakobi Vanderbilt (born April 3, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected as a McDonald's All-American in high school. Vanderbilt played ...

Leandro Bolmaro Leandro Nicolás Bolmaro (born 11 September 2000) is an Argentine-Italian professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the senior Argentina national team. Early years and yout ...

Malik Beasley Malik JonMikal Beasley (born November 26, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended Saint Francis School in Alpharetta, Georgia, and played one seaso ...

, four future first round picks, and a pick swap to the Utah Jazz in exchange for

Rudy Gobert Rudy Gobert-Bourgarel ( ; born June 26, 1992) is a French professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the French national team in their international competitions. ...

. On July 9, 2022, Kessler signed a rookie-scale contract with the Jazz.

Career statistics

College

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2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , 0 , , 8.8 , , .578 , , .250 , , .537 , , 3.2 , , .3 , , .5 , , .9 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 34 , , 25.6 , , .608 , , .200 , , .596 , , 8.1 , , .9 , , 1.1 , , 4.6 , , 11.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 63 , , 34 , , 17.9 , , .601 , , .204 , , .577 , , 5.8 , , .6 , , .8 , , 2.9 , , 8.2

Personal life

Kessler's father, Chad, and his uncle, Alec, played college basketball at Georgia and were drafted into the NBA before becoming

orthopedic surgeons Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

. His brother, Houston, also played basketball at Georgia.

References

External links

Auburn Tigers bioNorth Carolina Tar Heels bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, Walker 2001 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Auburn Tigers men's basketball players Basketball players from Atlanta Centers (basketball) McDonald's High School All-Americans Memphis Grizzlies draft picks North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Utah Jazz players Woodward Academy alumni