The Daily News, Jacksonville NC:
“It’s easy to see why New Hanover High School’s Ty Walker has the interest of so many college scouts out at the sixth annual East Coast Invitational Team Camp.
“Oh, it’s not his scoring, or his rebounding, or his defense, or his passing ability. It’s not even all about what he does out on the floor.
“Just look at the huddle before the Wildcats out of Wilmington played North Mecklenburg at Northside High School Thursday on the first day of the bonanza for bona fide basketball junkies that has brought 18 high school teams and more than 300 athletes and coaches to Jacksonville in the middle of the summer.
“You see it right away. The thin figure that stands a full head above everyone else. That’s what everybody sees first.
““I can teach you how to dribble and how to play defense,” said one college scout, “but I can’t teach you how to be 7-foot tall. That’s God’s business. …”
” … “You are going to be a lot more eager to see a kid 7-foot tall than other players because they are so rare,” said Dan Earl, a former point guard at Penn State who joined the Nittany Lions’ staff this year as an assistant and recruiter. “Quite obviously they get a lot of attention because they can be a difference maker.
” “I mean, I played point guard for Penn State at 6-4. So you want to see a big kid, see how he moves, see how coordinated he is, see how he thinks. They are still so important and so rare. We are always looking for them.” “
This is just how Walker, who stands just a half-inch under 7-feet at 16 years of age, looks at it.”