According to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com, Jabari Walker is reportedly “all-in” on going the professional route and not returning to Boulder.
"Jabari is fully committed to becoming a professional basketball player and has no intentions on returning to school. He wants to sign with an agent and go all-in."
That quote was from his father, Samaki Walker, who was a 10-year NBA veteran.
This news isn’t too shocking considering Jabari has all the talent to compete at the next level after he works out the kinks with a few parts of his game. However, the shocking part is that he isn’t going to give Colorado a second thought, even if he goes undrafted.
Walker emerged as Colorado’s go-to-scorer this past season, leading the team in scoring averaging 14.6 points per game while shooting 46.1% from the field and 78.4% from the charity stripe. After struggling during the first half of the season from three, he managed to finish the season shooting 34.6% from downtown.
If the news is, in fact, true about Walker deciding to waive his final year of eligibility at the University of Colorado, his scoring and rebounding production will be missed. Walker was the literal definition of a walking double-double this past season for the Buffs.
He had a stretch in which he recorded five-straight double-doubles. Colorado went 4-1 over that span and went an impressive 16-2 when he did so.
If the news is indeed true, the last time we got to see Jabari put on a Buffs uniform didn’t go so well. In Colorado’s first-round matchup of the NIT against St. Bonaventure, Jabari was held to just six points on 2-of-10 shooting, recording eight rebounds and three assists.
Colorado has some big shoes to fill if Jabari is officially gone, especially with the loss of senior Evan Battey. Colorado will have lost their top two scorers from last season.