Best of the Portal: Kani Walker Enjoying a Fresh Start at Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Sooners made a number of additions in the transfer portal this offseason. And while a few of those new players were on full display in last month’s spring game, AllSooners is taking a look back at each transfer’s top moments with their former team.
Some players enter the transfer portal with a wealth of starting experience, looking for a one-year destination to show off their skillset.
The Sooners picked up their share of players in that mold, including linebacker T.D. Roof, defensive back Trey Morrison and offensive lineman McKade Mettauer.
But sometimes, a relatively unknown player hits the portal looking for a better situation.
Those players can be seen as a roll of the dice, but Brent Venables and Ted Roof saw cornerback Kani Walker as a player worth taking a gamble on.
Rated a 3-star recruit by both 247 Sports and Rivals, the Douglasville, GA, native attended Louisville last year.
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, Walker has the build to be a difference maker, but he wasn’t able to find too much playing time in 2021.
Walker only made five appearances for Louisville, bookending his freshman season with appearances against Ole Miss, Eastern Kentucky, UCF, Syracuse and Kentucky.
Throughout his limited action, Walker was only credited with one tackle against Kentucky in the regular season finale for the Cardinals.
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“It was kind of difficult, because there was some more personal stuff going on in life,” Walker said during the spring about his freshman experience. “But I'd definitely say it was OK.”
Working through things off the field, Walker was still able to rebound and feature in the final two regular season games of the season last year, a level of commitment Venables welcomes.
The move to bring in Walker wasn’t a total show of blind faith on behalf of the Sooners, however.
An existing relationship between Walker’s high school coach and the new defensive staff helped ease the transition for both sides.
“Coach Roof already knew my head coach,” Walker said. “… He already knew my head coach from high school so the connection was already there, so once I hit the portal, they was already on it and stuff like that.”
During the recruiting process, the thing that stood out to Walker most about Oklahoma was the support system that would be in place to ensure everything off the field is taken care of to allow players to succeed between the white lines on Saturdays.
With the S.O.U.L. Mission in the background, Walker is prepared to deliver on his athletic promise and help make a difference this year for the Crimson and Cream.
“I'm hungry,” he said. “I feel like this is the time to actually really make a name for myself. It will be on me if I didn't live up to this opportunity, because it's not like they're not giving me a chance.”
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