John Walker was arguably the biggest commitment in UCF history when he made his decision a little more than a year ago, choosing the Knights over Florida, Michigan, Ohio State and Miami among many others.
The former Osceola defensive tackle has been taking classes since January, though he actually participated in some bowl practices last December. UCFSports.com caught up with him at the recent freshman media day to talk about his transition into college.
"It's been amazing," Walker said. "Doing things on my own, being part of the team, knowing the team and their personalities. I'm really happy to be a part of this group."
Walker said enrolling early has been incredibly beneficial in allowing him to learn the playbook and the system as well as getting used to increased physicality.
He's been learning a lot from Ricky Barber.
"Just seeing how he moves to different gaps, transitioning his eyes and how he defeats blocks," Walker said.
In the last eight months or so, Walker says Coach Kenny Martin has helped him a lot with his technique. His football IQ has also improved.
It appears Walker is in play to make an immediate contribution this season, though he said he's not really focusing on that.
"I just want to do anything to help my team and win games," he said. "Just learning and growing each day."
Now that he's had perspective of being campus, why was UCF the right decision for him?
"Why not UCF? It's not far from home. We're going into a very good conference. We have a great coaching staff, but they're really great people too. I wanted to be a part of that. I'm really loving UCF so far."
His longtime friend and high school teammate Derrick LeBlanc has now joined him at UCF, transferring in earlier this summer after spending the spring at Oklahoma. He said they even attended elementary school together.
"It's really exciting to have a guy I've known for a long time playing next to me," Walker said.
Walker said he's been impressed with fellow freshman 'Hometown Hero' Kaven Call who is playing defensive end.
"He's a hard worker," Walker said. "He runs to the ball. He tries to make plays everywhere. He's trying to get better every day too."
Goals for this season?
"I just want to do anything to help the team and contribute," Walker said. "Take one game at a time and win as many games as we can."
