Do you think she will land with a school closer to home?
@@facebook=
@@
Former Chaminade Julienne High School basketball standout Samarie Walker announced Thursday she is leaving the University of Connecticut’s women’s program.
“Right now I can’t give the team the energy and commitment that it needs to be successful,” the 6-foot-1 freshman forward said through the school. “I need to go and figure out what my future holds.”
Walker was left behind in Storrs, Conn., when the Huskies, who are ranked No. 2 in the nation, played at North Carolina on Monday. Coach Gene Auriemma said she was dealing with a “personal matter.”
“It’s unfortunate for her, not for us; we will go on,” Auriemma told the Hartford Courant. “I asked her point blank why she came to college to play basketball and she said my parents wanted me to. So you know it’s a delicate situation. But it’s not fair to the rest of the team. If you want success, everyone needs to be invested equally.
“I didn’t like where her mind was, where her focus was.”
Auriemma can be demanding and snide, but Walker praised him recently while home on holiday break.
“I love my coach,” she said at halftime of a CJ-Alter girls game in December. “Everybody thinks he is such a hard person to play for, but he’s a great guy and a really great coach.”
Duane Williams, Walker’s coach last year at CJ, was surprised by the news but knew Walker was homesick and missed her parents. “I don’t think (her decision) has to do with the program itself,” Williams said.
A high school All-American and the 10th-ranked recruit in the nation, according to ESPN’s Hoopgurlz, Walker averaged 6.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 18.8 minutes for UConn over 17 games.
It wasn’t clear if Walker would seek a school closer to home. “Hopefully, things will work out for her,” Williams said. “If it’s what she wants, (schools) will be waiting in line to talk to her.”