About M.J. Walker
Walker was born March 28, 1998 in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the son of Jackie and James Walker Sr. He has an older sister, Amoni, who plays for Miles College. Jackie played women’s college basketball for Hampton University. In high school, Walker initially played football but decided to focus on basketball after summer 2016. He attended Jonesboro High School in Jonesboro, Georgia. As a sophomore in 2014-15, he averaged 17.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals and led the team to a 32-1 record, plus the 2015 Georgia Class 4A state title. As a junior, he averaged 22.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists while leading the team to a state title. As a senior, he averaged 27.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists and led the team to a 23-6 record. Walker also played for the United States national under-18 team at the 2016 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship, where he secured a gold medal. He ended up as a five-star recruit and ended up committing to play college ball at Florida State.
As a freshman, Walker averaged 7.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 18.8 minutes. As a sophomore, he averaged 7.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 25.9 minutes and started 34 of his 35 appearances. As a junior, he started 24 of 26 appearances and averaged 10.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 25.1 minutes. He was named to the ACC All-Honorable Mention Team that season. As a senior, he was named to the ACC All-Second Team on the back of 12.2 points, 2.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 29.0 minutes. He shot 42.3 percent from three in 2020-21, making 1.8 per game.
His career bests stood at 24 points, six rebounds (three times), 10 assists, three steals (five times), two blocks (three times) and six threes (twice). He had arguably the best performance of his career on Jan. 27, 2019 in a win over Miami (FL). In 35 minutes, Walker posted 22 points (7-10 FG, 6-7 3Pt, 2-2 FT), five assists, two rebounds and one block.
— Profile by RotoWire