Antwainette Walker declares for 2024 WNBA draft | Sports

Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) women’s basketball star Antwainette Walker declared for the 2024 WNBA draft in an Instagram post on Thurs. March 28. Walker was an influential guard who won countless accolades throughout her collegiate career and played an integral role on EKU’s team. 

“I am excited to announce that I will be declaring for the 2024 WNBA Draft,” said Walker’s post. “I am so excited for this new chapter in my life, as my heart and mind are receptive to all the possibilities that will come my way and I can’t wait to see what the future entails.”

As a three-star recruit from Lisle, Illinois, she was ranked 114th in the nation for her position. Walker committed to Arkansas Little Rock and played in 21 games as a freshman in 2018. She played a total of 122 minutes and ended her first year with 46 points and 8 assists. 

During her sophomore year in 2019, Walker transferred to Marquette, sitting out her first year due to NCAA transfer eligibility rules. In 2020, as a redshirt sophomore, she appeared in 18 games. Notably, she scored a season best eight points against Providence College and scored six points in the conference championship game against the University of Connecticut. 

As a redshirt junior in 2021, she appeared in 28 games for Marquette and averaged 4.7 points per game. She scored a season-best 12 points against DePaul University. 

Walker transferred to EKU in 2022 for her redshirt senior season and took off. She found a lot of success quickly, starting 30 games, and averaging 21 points per game. She was awarded Atlantic Sun (ASUN) Newcomer of the Year and First-Team All Conference. She was also placed on the 2023 Ann Meyers Drysdale Mid-Season Watchlist by the National Basketball Hall of Fame and won the 2023 Dawn Staley Award Late Season Watchlist by the Phoenix Club of Philadelphia. She had six consecutive performances with 20 or more points and scored a career-high of 33 points against Austin Peay at home. 

After a dominating season, she led the team in points, points per game, free throws made, rebounds, rebounds per game, steals, and steals per game. She led the ASUN in ten statistical categories and was ranked Top 25 in the NCAA in five categories. She was also named the 2022-2023 Herald Leader Kentucky Women’s Player of the Year. 

In 2023, Walker ended her time at EKU just as well as she began it. Before the season even started, she was listed on the 2023-24 Becky Hammon Preseason Mid-Major Player of the Year Watchlist. She scored her 1,000th career point in a home game against Kennesaw State, becoming the 26th player in program history to accomplish the goal. 

Walker was named First-Team All ASUN, ranked second in the conference in points at 471 and points per game at 18.1. 

In the Instagram announcement, she stated how grateful she was…