'Sky' Walker suspended three games; freshman Francis to sit out this season
Thursday, October 16, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Cross Country, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Sophomore center Chris Walker has been suspended for three games due to a violation of team rules, Florida coach Billy Donovan announced during Wednesday's media gathering to preview the 2014-15 season.
The 6-foot-10, 220-pound Walker will miss the team's exhibition game against Barry University on Nov. 6, plus the season opener against William & Mary on Nov. 14 and a home date with Miami on Nov. 17.
"It'll be tough, but I'll get through it," Walker said.
The Gators are counting on Walker to play a big role in the post this season, given the loss of senior center Patric Young. A McDonald's All-American out of Bonifay, Fla., Walker signed with UF in 2012, but did not qualify academically to enter school as a freshman last fall. Instead, he rallied his transcript by taking on-line classes and gained enrollment for the second semester.
Though he joined UF on Dec. 14, Walker was not cleared to play by the NCAA until Feb. 4 against Missouri -- a 12-game suspension, as it turned out -- and he went on to average 1.9 points and 1.3 rebounds in less than five minutes per game.
Those numbers are going up significantly this year -- starting Nov. 21 against Louisiana-Monroe.
Gators coach Billy Donovan said Walker (and UF fans) need to manage expectations for his performance this season.
"I don't know what kind of impact he's going to make," Donovan said. "He's going to have to really be able to handle where he's got maybe his own personal expectation of where he thinks he should be. If he's not at that [high performance] level, how is he going to handle that? One of the most difficult things to deal with as a coach is when you have players with individual expectations that don't get met with how they're performing. He's got to have a realistic expectation. He's got a long way to go."
Meanwhile, freshman guard Brandone Francis will sit out the entire season due to academic reasons. The 6-5, 205-pound Francis starred at Jacksonville Arlington Country Day, but the Dominican Republic native did not qualify to participate in games this season, though it's possible he could hit the acadmic baselines to join the team for practice in the second semester.
