Michigan defensive back Amorion Walker enters NCAA Transfer Portal
Walker, projected by Michigan this spring to be a breakout player this fall, dealt with injuries and struggled to make a dent in the Wolverines’ cornerback room.
While the rest of the country endured its Transfer Portal losses in December, the Michigan football team’s players largely stayed locked in on trying to help the Wolverines capture a national title. And now that Michigan has done that, players such as Jake Thaw and Darrius Clemons have opted to hit the Transfer Portal to spend next season at another program.
Add redshirt freshman cornerback Amorion Walker to that list, as the 6-foot-3, 180-pounder hit the portal Thursday evening. Though entering the portal does not mean a player can’t return to their current program, it suggests that a player is at least strongly looking to spend the next season elsewhere.
Walker, projected by Michigan this spring to be a breakout player this fall, dealt with injuries and struggled to make a dent in the Wolverines’ cornerback room. He played in six of Michigan’s 15 games, totaling 66 snaps, all on defense. He allowed three receptions on six targets in coverage, with one pass breakup. He finished with three tackles, and did not play in either of Michigan’s College Football Playoff games.
In all, he played the seventh-most snaps among Michigan cornerbacks this season, including falling behind fellow 6-foot-3 cornerback and true freshman DJ Waller Jr.
After Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh touted Walker’s shiftiness in February — his 6.10-second 3-cone drill would be faster than any prior time in NFL Combine history — as he switched from wide receiver to cornerback, his 2023 was muddied by injuries and being buried on the depth chart. Still, speaking with 247Sports last week, he seemed to be taking it in stride.
“It’s been good for me,” Walker told The Michigan Insider. “It’s been building me mentally in a great place. Everybody goes through a little something and adversity, so I’ve been working to get back to where I need to go.
“It definitely helps a whole lot. When I got injured, it allowed to me to sit down and really take in the parts of the game all in at once. That was really good for me, too. I feel like I’m a way smarter football player than I was at the beginning of the year.”
Walker, who said he was up to 192 pounds, even had eyes on a starting job next season.
“Yeah, absolutely (that’s what I’m looking to do),” Walker stated. “I feel like I’m more polished and smarter. It’s going to be a very very big off-season for me.”
Evidently, he may be chasing that starting job at another program
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Extended post-season wrap-up and thoughts: Michigan wins it all
I w
anted to let the dust settle a bit before wrapping up my thoughts on the season and the very near future as Michigan is officially National Champions, which is surreal to actually type out…..
– I wasn’t going to pick against Michigan after the Penn State game. I didn’t pick against them against Penn State. The way they won that game and doing it without Jim Harbaugh was all I needed to see.
– On Jim….the golden rule I’ve always applied when it comes to what he might do and what he’s thinking is that NOBODY knows what he is going to do and what he is thinking except for him. The mass amounts of mis/disinformation that come out regarding his past, present and future for years is staggering. Either way, I’ve always been in a ‘believe it when I see it’ mode as far as him leaving Michigan.
Kevin Willard on Donta Scott’s outburst, one key adjustment, Julian Reese and “the magic elixir”
“Yeah, I mean, I get on Ju a lot because I just, I think he’s the best big man in the country, and I expect him to play like that all the time…”
Maryland men’s basketball picked up a much-needed home win Thursday night, beating Michigan, 67-54.
The Terps had a tough first half, making just 1 of 11 three-pointers and finding itself on the wrong side of a 33-21 ballgame after 20 minutes. The Terps also turned the ball over nine times in the first half, resulting in 12 Michigan points.
The second half was a much different story. Maryland outscored Michigan, 43-24, in the final 20 minutes, shooting 48% from the field and hitting six threes. The Terps also turned the ball over just three times in the second half. Donta Scott finished with a game-high 22 points, including four crucial threes. Julian Reese also had 14 points and 13 rebounds, also avoiding serious foul trouble.
Following the game, Kevin Willard met with reporters to discuss the win.
Willard talked about both Donta Scott’s night, Julian Reese’s performance, the Terps’ defensive press and much more:
ON DONTA SCOTT’S SECOND-HALF PERFORMANCE
“Yeah, I mean, I think Donta’s been playing like that in practice all year, and he’s been playing really good over the last four games. And he had some good looks in the first half … we struggled in the first half and I think he was upset with himself at halftime and he came out and he was very, very animated in the huddle before he went out. He just did what a senior does.”
Maryland Basketball Recruiting Scoop: What’s the ’24 Recruiting Plan? | Derik Queen Buzz | To Reclass, or Not
ON HOW THE FIRST TWO THREES HELPED THE REST OF THE TEAM
“I keep telling these guys like, the way, as far as they play in the defense end is what I see every day in practice. And what happened in the second half is what I see every day in practice. And I just, I keep from like – you guys got to reward yourself eventually. The fans aren’t going to cheer because you keep getting defensive stops. It’s just, that’s not the way fans work. I said, they want to see the ball go in the hoop. And I said, you guys, I mean, we held them to seven points, but we have six at home, like, it’s kind of mind boggling. So eventually, they just, they relaxed, and seeing the ball go in really helped.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS WIN BEFORE ROAD GAMES AT ILLINOIS, NORTHWESTERN
“We’re pretty much at a must-win in every game. So, I mean, that’s kind of how the beginning of the season kind of put us behind the eight ball. But I also think that this is a team that – if we can get better offensively – the way we play defensively is gonna give us a good chance.”
ON DESHAWN HARRIS-SMITH’S
“Yeah, I mean, DeShawn’s been putting a lot of work in every morning in the gym. He’s still trying to figure out Big Ten basketball, and I love the fact he came out in the second half, he wanted the basketball. He made the first aggressive drive of the half. He’s been working hard. He’s obviously frustrated with the way he’s shooting the basketball. But for a freshman that’s playing the minutes he’s played, he’s the second leader in plus-minus on the team. I just try to keep telling him what positive things that he does. He’s such a great passer. He can get other guys involved. We had, DeShawn plays 34 minutes and Jamie Kaiser plays 31 minutes. There’s no other team in college at the high level playing two freshmen that many minutes. So for those guys and DeShawn and Jamie to play that well I think it’s really, really encouraging.”
ON JULIAN REESE’S VALUE DEFENSIVELY
“Yeah, I mean, I get on Ju a lot because I just, I think he’s the best big man in the country, and I expect him to play like that all the time. I think sometimes, because he knows he’s gonna be out there a lot, gets a little lazy on defense, and he’ll be the first one to tell you that. But I think he’s the best big guy. So anything he does doesn’t surprise me. I mean, that’s just Julian.”
ON BEING ABLE TO GET INTO THEIR DEFENSIVE PRESS
“Yeah, I mean, I think in the second it just … I think we scored four times in a row at one point. Just to be able to work [Jaelin] Llewellyn, the young man played, he played his heart off. I was so impressed with how well he played for the fact that he got thrown into that, into the fire, and I thought he played great. But the whole thing was just wear him down, wear him down, wear him down so he wouldn’t be able to make shots down the stretch.”
ON JULIAN REESE GETTING EARLY TOUCHES IN THE SECOND HALF
“We try to throw him the basketball as much as possible. I mean, we started, he got the first six touches in the first half, and they just did a great job double teaming him. So we went away from our post up, and we tried to get him the basketball in pick-and-rolls so they couldn’t double.”
ON THE DEFENSE LOOKING MUCH DIFFERENT IN THE SECOND HALF
“No, I think the biggest thing is we switched from a zone press to our man press, just because we gave them – Reed got a dunk, 42 got an open three in the corner against our zone press because they
