Washington’s Walker Jr. possibly WPIAL’s best-kept secret
CELESTE VAN KIRK
Washington High Schools football player Dan Walker Jr.
Dan Walker Jr.
CELESTE VAN KIRK
Washington High Schools football player Dan Walker Jr.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
washfootball
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Washington’s Dan Walker jumps over Wilmington’s Marett Cameron during the PIAA Class AA semifinals game at Slippery Rock University.
By Luke Campbell/Staff writer/lcampbell@observer-reporter.com
In nine games this season, Walker has 25 receptions for 514 yards and eight touchdowns. He also has locked down a cornerback spot for the Prexies with four interceptions.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
by Luke Campbell
photos by CELESTE VAN KIRK
Timing has been everything for Washington High School wide receiver Dan Walker Jr.
Last year, during one of Walker Jr.’s final spring practices at Brookwood, a high school in the Atlanta, Ga., suburb of Snellville, University of Louisville associate head coach Lorenzo Ward saw all he needed and approached Walker Jr.’s coach, Philip Jones. After practice, Jones called Walker Jr. over and said what every high school athlete wants to hear.
“They are offering you a scholarship,” Jones said.
Walker Jr. was four weeks away from transferring back to Washington High School and missed a portion of his spring practices to return to the area because of an ill family member.
“It really was being at the right place at the right time,” Walker Jr. said. “I really have counted my blessings. I nearly missed the practice and might have never even gotten that offer. Georgia is really talent rich, so they would have just moved on to the next (player), to be honest.”
Three months later, Walker Jr. was practicing at safety and wide receiver on the Prexies’ scout team while his transfer request was pending final approval. He returned to Washington after moving away when his mother tragically died Jan. 18, 2009. His mother, Teirra Walker, then 31, was riding in a car that collided with a Port Authority bus on the Homestead Grays Bridge. She died at the scene of the accident.
After getting the go-ahead to play for Wash High, Walker Jr. appeared in 11 games, caught 33 passes for 617 yards and had nine touchdowns. He also hauled in four interceptions, stopped Steel Valley inches short of a touchdown on fourth-and-goal late in the first quarter of the Prexies’ 37-10 victory in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game. Later in the title game, Walker Jr. returned a punt 40 yards that set up the go-ahead score.