Georgia commit Bo Walker remains ineligible at Stockbridge

Star running back has one final appeal set for Tuesday and will miss Friday's season opener

After rushing for more than 1,500 yards and 29 touchdowns in leading Cedar Grove to the 2023 GHSA Class 3A state championship, Bo Walker (0) has been ruled ineligible for one year after transferring to Stockbridge in February. / Cecil Copeland

Bo Walker, a University of Georgia commit and one of the top high school running backs in the state of Georgia, remains ineligible for the 2024 season, pending one final appeal to the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) on Tuesday.

Walker, now a senior, rushed for 1,579 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2023 while leading Cedar Grove to the Class 3A state championship before transferring to Stockbridge last February. In March, Cedar Grove offensive coordinator Kendrick Callier was named the new head coach at Stockbridge which ultimately led to Walker being ruled ineligible.

The GHSA found Walker in violation bylaw 1.72 which requires athletes to be ineligible for one year if they follow coaches for whom they have previously played, when the coach moves from one GHSA member school to another. The rule is meant to prevent coaches from having undue influence on athletes following them to new schools.

Stockbridge made a hardship appeal on Walker's behalf, on August 8, and lost. That decision insured that he would miss Friday's season-opening game at Dutchtown. Any chance Walker has of suiting up for the Tigers in 2024 rests with his final appeal which will be heard on Tuesday by the GHSA board of trustees.

Callier, who was not hired until one month after Walker had already enrolled at Stockbridge, says Walker made the decision for family reasons.

“Everybody thinks he moved because of me, but that’s not the truth,” Callier said to Georgia High School Football Daily. “It’s a true family issue. He came to help out his great-granddad. His great-granddaddy is sick, and his great-grandmother is too old to help, and that’s the reason.”

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Walker did practice with Stockbridge throughout the summer, but began sitting out once padded practices began in August. If he loses his appeal, Walker may have to sit out the entire year. If he were to elect to transfer to another school, he would once again have to appeal to the GHSA for eligibility. It would not be automatic.

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Callier remains hopeful and supportive, but is encouraging Walker to keep an open mind to other options should the appeal not turn out favorably.

“He’s so positive that it’s like he doesn’t want to think about that stuff,” Callier said. “He doesn’t like when I bring up Plan B. He feels everything will go his way.”

Walker's options, should his appeal fail, include appealing to become eligible at another GHSA school, transferring to a school which is not a member of the GHSA, including one out of state, or sitting out his senior year of high school football and preparing for a possible early enrollment at the University of Georgia this winter.

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