ERLANGER, Ky. — Lloyd Memorial High School 2025 forward EJ Walker announced Friday night he has made a verbal commitment to play basketball at the University of South Carolina.
Walker, who is 6-feet-8 and 235 pounds, made the announcement in front of family and friends inside Scheben Gym at Lloyd. He also considered Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin among his four finalists.
Walker, a three-star player and ranked Kentucky's No. 2 player in the 2025 class by 247 Sports, earned 31 scholarship offers during the recruiting process. He earned his first scholarship offer — from Youngstown State — in the eighth grade.
"It's been a great process," said Lloyd coach Michael Walker, who is EJ's father.
Walker took 14 unofficial visits and took official visits to Wisconsin and South Carolina. Last weekend, Walker made the decision to make a verbal commitment while he was in Texas for an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) event.
Walker's college recruiting journey has been in the spotlight for quite some time. Prior to his four finalists, Walker announced March 1 his top 12 college basketball programs including Dayton, Iowa, West Virginia, Louisville, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue, South Carolina, Minnesota, Xavier, University of California and Ohio State.
Walker averaged 16.9 points and 11.1 rebounds this past season for Lloyd (25-9), which was a Ninth Region semifinalist.
"His versatility" is the best part of his game, Michael Walker said. "He's able to do multiple things offensively."
EJ Walker has scored 1,322 points in his career. He is 267 points away from becoming the school's all-time leading scorer, according to the athletic department. Ryan Wilson, a 2000 Lloyd graduate, is Lloyd's all-time leading scorer with 1,588 points.
EJ Walker also has a 4.0 grade-point average and takes college courses.
"EJ epitomizes what it means to be a high school student-athlete," Lloyd athletic director Bill Pilgram said.
"He understands the big picture of the importance of putting in the time and effort in the classroom with a 4.0 GPA. True athletes are driven in most aspects of life and compete to be the best at all times. On top of everything else, he always has a smile on his face and a positive attitude whenever you interact with him. He just gets it; works hard, stays positive, treats others with respect, and performs in the classroom," Pilgram said.
Lloyd is certain to garner a spotlight again next season. The team was invited to the King of the Bluegrass tournament at Fairdale High School this December.
Walker is able to sign his National Letter of Intent with South Carolina on Nov. 13.
South Carolina earned a 26-8 record this past season including tied for second in the Southeastern Conference (13-5 record). The Gamecocks finished the season No. 24 in the final Associated Press poll and No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
It marked the first time South Carolina was ranked in the final AP Top 25 since March 15, 2004.
The team's 25 regular-season wins were a new program record. The team improved its win total by 15 games from the 2022-23 season. South Carolina earned an NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since 2017 when the team was in the Final Four.
Walker is the third reported verbal commitmentin the 2025 class for South Carolina.
