Will Walker was the First Commitment of BYU's 2025 Recruiting Class

Casey Lundquist | Jun 29, 2024

It's been a successful month on the recruiting trail for Kalani Sitake and the BYU football program. BYU is up to 14 commits in the 2025 class, and the majority of those commitments have come in the month of June. The first commitment of BYU's 2025 class came two years ago, when punter and placekicker prospect Will Walker committed to the Cougars in June of 2022. We caught up with Walker to discuss his recruitment and decision.

Walker first got in touch with BYU's staff back in the Summer of 2021 before his freshman year of high school. Walker won the punting competition at BYU's high school Summer camp. "The following summer I went to the [BYU] specialists camp again and performed even better than I did the previous year," Walker said.

Great punt session in Provo! 45-65 yards, 4.9, 4.6, 4.83,4.65,4.5 hang. @byufootball @BYU_CoachJustin @rhsfootballut @Chris_Sailer @CriddleBenjamin @Coach_Popp @MooseB90 @gavinfowler16 @r_rehkow24 pic.twitter.com/s4wIVewlE9

— Will Walker (@WillWalker84) June 3, 2024

It's uncommon for BYU to offer scholarships to punters, especially in the high school ranks. The last punter to sign with BYU was Ryan Rehkow in the 2017 recruiting class. Walker bucked the trend when he picked up a scholarship offer from BYU.

"After the camp I met with Coach Fowler and  Coach Sitake and they told me they don’t usually offer scholarships to punters/kickers but they saw how much talent I had at a young age and they knew I had great potential. They said if I was ready to commit now and close my recruiting to other schools they were ready to commit to me and offer me a full scholarship. They also said I could freely participate in the recruiting scene if I wanted and there was no pressure one way or the other.  I was absolutely speechless. This was a dream come true!  I had always wanted to play at BYU.  I told them I was willing to close my recruiting efforts and commit to BYU."

Later on, Walker had the opportunity to sit down and meet with BYU head coach Kalani Sitake. For Walker, it was a dream come true. "BYU has been my dream school ever since I was a little boy," Walker said. "I put in the work physically and mentally and I was extremely blessed to receive a full ride scholarship. Other schools have expressed interest, but I have remained true to my word and have not entertained other conversations or recruiting efforts.  Any other school just doesn’t feel right and I know BYU is the place for me."

Former BYU standout punter Ryan Rehkow played an important role for BYU from the moment he enrolled in classes, and that's the kind of impact Will Walker could have for the Cougars. He is 6'5, the same height as Ryan Rehkow. He is ranked second nationally among punters according to kicking and punting guru Chris Sailer.