Arden Walker, DE from '21 Class, Calls Spartan Offer a "Blessing"
Since the start of the calendar year, Englewood (CO) Cherry Creek 2021 3-star defensive end Arden Walker has started to see his recruitment pick up as he’s fielded a handful of offers, including an offer from Michigan State, with several more likely on the way in the not-so-distant future.
Spartan Nation spoke with Walker about his newest offer from the Spartans and about his recruitment and the 6-foot-4, 245-pound pass rusher said that he’s enjoying the recruiting process and feels that his recent run of offers could be just the beginning for him.
“It’s definitely been a blessing, I’m just taking it in,” he said. “I feel like it’s kind of just getting started, I started getting some in my sophomore year and it’s just been building from there. I’ve been to a couple of camps, working my way into some offers. Then hearing from Michigan State last night, it was a blast, it was great to hear. Great news from coach Burton last night.”
In addition to his offer from Michigan State, Walker has offers from Colorado, Colorado State, Iowa, Iowa State, Boston College, Kansas, Kansas State, Washington State, and Wisconsin.
After speaking with Michigan State Graduate Assistant Jack Harris, who was previously at Colorado with Mel Tucker, Walker spoke with Michigan State defensive line coach Ron Burton on Tuesday night and informed him of the offer.
Very blessed to receive an offer from Michigan State University! Special thanks to @Coach_mtucker @CoachRonBurton @CCNextLevelFB @Kemest36 @ImJustSean pic.twitter.com/lWKQjWLCNM
— Arden Walker 🎉 (@walker_arden) March 18, 2020
“I was definitely excited,” he said. “It was great to hear, especially coming from the defensive line coach, so I got an honest opinion from him. It was great to hear that he sees something in me and some potential in me so I can maybe take my game to the next level because that’s my intention.”
Walker said that his conversation with Burton was one that allowed the two to become more familiar with one another and said that he liked finding out that Burton has ties to Colorado, dating back to his time as the defensive line coach at Air Force (2003-2012).
“It was more of an intro conversation, kind of getting to know each other,” he said. “I originally talked to coach Harris last week and coach Harris was originally at Colorado and he checked in on me. Then talking with coach Burton last night, he was just introducing himself and he told me he’s a Colorado guy because he was at Air Force and his family’s been around Colorado, so it was good to have some similarities with him.”
In their discussion, Walker said that he and Burton talked about what stood out to him about his style of play, and was told that his ability to rush the passer and his explosiveness were two of the areas that stood out to Burton, which Walker considers to be his strengths.
“He said based on my film that I had explosiveness and being able to get off the line,” he said. “We talked about my pass-rushing skills and that’s basically what I’ve been trying to perfect over the past three years. That’s what I intend on being at the next level, a great pass rusher.”
After speaking with Burton on Tuesday, Walker told Spartan Nation that he spoke with offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic on Wednesday and expected to speak with Tucker soon.
Walker, who was offered by Colorado when Tucker was head coach, said that he’s excited to see that Tucker still sees him as a fit with his new program and added that he likes the idea of having a defensive-minded head coach.
“Based on him being at Colorado, he was trying to rebuild and I think that’s what he’s trying to continue right now (at Michigan State),” he said. “So it was good to know that he would go somewhere else and I was one of the players that he thought could be apart of potentially rebuilding and starting something new in a program. Overall, I can definitely say that he really knows his stuff, like on defense, for instance, he’s a defensive coach and having a defense-first head coach is good to hear.”
Walker said that he’s still learning about Michigan State and seeing how he’d fit with the Spartans and noted that because of the NCAA recruiting restrictions in place because of the Coronavirus outbreak, he is unsure if he will visit East Lansing when the NCAA lifts the restrictions.
“I’m just getting familiar with it,” he said. “I was talking with coach Burton last night and getting to know his defense and he’s been there for eight years and all of his defensive line guys know to just go get it. That’s what I’m looking for as well and that caught my eye and has me thinking as well, so now it’s about getting more familiar with the program. With the coronavirus, we’ll see in terms of me visiting. I’m not sure yet.”
For all of the latest news on Walker and the Spartans, be sure to stay tuned to Spartan Nation!
Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
Want the latest breaking MSU news delivered straight to your email for FREE? Sign up for the DAILY Spartan Nation newsletter when you CLICK THE MAGAZINE ICON at the top left of the page or the FOLLOW button back on the main page. Don’t miss any of the latest up to the second updates on Michigan State Sports when you follow on Twitter @HondoCarpenter & @JDeuceDullack
