Colorado Basketball: Jabari Walker’s NBA decision this summer

Jabari Walker will have a decision to make and it’s a big one in his young basketball career. Does he stay one more season in Boulder or does he enter his name in the NBA Draft and go pro?

Colorado has seen this story before with notable players such as Alec Burks, Andre Roberson and Tyler Bey just to name a few. Selfishly, you want Walker to stay just because of what happened with Bey’s development. Granted, Walker is by far more polished than Bey and has the ability to stretch the floor.

Earlier in the season, Colorado’s sophomore forward was projected to go 29th overall to the Golden State Warriors on NBADraft.net. If you visit the site now, Walker is nowhere to be found. Not sure if that’s because he hasn’t officially made a decision yet but it’s a little strange considering he was a late first-round pick most of the season on their website.

Walker was Colorado’s leading scorer and rebounder this season, averaging 14.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per contest. Colorado’s rising-star recorded 17 double-doubles on the season, including a stretch in where he collected five-straight.

The Buffs are a few pieces away from making some noise in the Pac-12 next season, and Jabari Walker is priority number one if they want to do so. The Buffs dealt with injuries to players who would’ve seen minutes such as top recruits Quincy Allen and Lawson Lovering. Allen had hip surgery prior to the season while Lovering suffered an MCL injury during the middle of the it.

Another recruit from the 2021 class, Javon Ruffin, dislocated his knee cap last year and didn’t record a minute this season. Senior Eli Parquet also saw his season get cut short due to a foot injury, leaving the Buffs down four rotational players.

Colorado is a young team and the experience that they got this season will help them even more next year considering they’ll bring everyone back besides seniors Evan Battey and Parquet.

Ball security and foul trouble is something that Walker will need to correct whether it’s in Boulder next season or in the pros.

Walker’s smooth stroke from beyond-the-arc is appealing to NBA scouts and rightfully so. After shooting 52.3% from three during his freshman season, Walker dipped all the way down to 34.6%. Granted his minutes doubled and played in a lot more games this past season, Jabari did shoot a lot better down the stretch.

So the question is, should Jabari stay one more season in Boulder or chase his dream and go to the NBA?

Personally for me, I would like to see him stay one more season in Boulder and lead this team to the Big Dance. Work on his inside game a little more and try and correct the little things that’s plaguing him such as ball security and staying out of foul trouble.

However, whatever Jabari decides to do I will support him either way. He’s been a tremendous asset to this university and has made watching this team a treat.