‘Time to wake ‘em up.’ Freshman Janaé Walker is ready for what’s next for UK basketball.

On May 7, 6-foot-4 forward Janaé Walker announced her commitment to Kentucky women’s basketball via Instagram Live. Even just months before, that was not part of the plan.

Walker had been headed to Gardner-Webb but decommitted in the spring following a coaching change. The incoming UK freshman has paved a well-rounded, unique path to Lexington, and she’s ecstatic to be here.

“It’s been amazing,” Walker said. “I have no complaints. It’s awesome here.”

The Tyrone, Georgia, native, who has spent most of her life as a dancer, arrived to basketball later than most Power Five signees.

“From the time I was 2 up until 13,” Walker explained, “you could say I got a lot of my footwork and stuff from that just completely transferred over. Ballet, tap, jazz, modern. I was on point for a little bit.”

Walker began dancing simply because her mother wanted to give her something to do. It wasn’t until several years passed that Walker was confronted with a new opportunity, when she met Coach Dwynell Mitchell at a summer camp she attended.

“He saw my length, he was like, ‘There’s no way … ,’” Walker said. “You know, typical tall people question. ‘There’s no way you don’t play basketball.’ And so, he put the basketball in my hands.”

The only child of Veronica and Joseph is close with her parents, but if you saw them together you might wonder where her height came from. “I’m actually adopted,” Walker said. “That’s a common question I get. My mom’s 5-5, my dad’s 5-8. So it’s just like, when they see me they’re like, ‘Where did it come from?’”

Mitchell, who ran non-profit organization I Beat A.L.L. Inc. in Tyrone with his wife Ketrina, passed away a few years later. Walker remembers him as her introduction to the game. By the time Walker reached eighth grade, and dance and basketball had overlapped for a short time, she made the choice to focus solely on basketball.

“At that point,” Walker said. “I had to make a hard decision like, ‘Which one do you want to do?’ So I chose basketball and ever since then, I’ve played.”

Was it difficult for her to switch over entirely?

“Oh, goodness,” Walker laughed. “Yes. It was completely different. Just thought I was gonna be in basketball shape based off of dance and that was not the case. It was just a different pace, so much change.”

Conditioning was on the mind, and Walker found her way to track and field. Despite a canceled freshman season in spring 2020 due to COVID, she participated in both shot put and discus following a brief stint with the distance runners.

“When I first started track,” Walker said, “I was the one person that volunteered to run the 2-mile because I was like, ‘You know what, no one else wants to do it.’ And it’s free points because no one runs it. So I was like, ‘You know what, I’ll run it and get us some points. Like OK, cool.’ After like the first three or four times, I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, like there’s got to be something else that I can do besides just running for eight laps.’ So I found throwing and it was great.”

So great, in fact, that Walker placed as a state finalist each of the three years she was with the team. And as she garnered success in track and field, she was also making strides in basketball.

Despite not playing much on the AAU circuit — spending time only with Elite 40 program Hoop Dreams Athletics out of Atlanta — Walker’s first offer arrived from Arkansas during her sophomore year of high school. According to Walker, her recruitment gained a lot of momentum at the end of her junior year. She zeroed in on her development and training, working hard to improve all aspects of her game.

“People were starting to take notice of me,” Walker said. “That’s kind of when my recruitment kind of kicked up a little bit. I was still very under the radar because, you know, I had just started playing. But from junior to senior year, I just made that switch. I did a lot of training in the offseason. Didn’t really play a whole lot of AAU just because I wanted to train, so that’s kind of why I wasn’t getting seen by all these, you know, the Power Five schools just yet.”

Walker picked up several offers, including one from Gardner-Webb. At the time, the Runnin’ Bulldogs were led by former Tennessee player Alex Simmons, a head coach entering her fifth year at Gardner-Webb with an impressive eye for spotting talent.

“I took the visit there,” Walker said. “That was my first official visit, my only official visit. And I ended up liking it. I was like, ‘You know, this works for me. Like, I’m cool.’ So I ended up committing a couple days later after the visit. So that’s just kind of how it happened. I didn’t really explore a whole lot of other options. I mean, they were there, but I just really liked Gardner-Webb. So I committed and that was it and I didn’t really think twice about it.”

Walker signed her national letter of intent with the Runnin’ Bulldogs in November 2022, and Gardner-Webb went on a tear. The program fought its way through the Big South Conference, posting an overall record of 29-5 (18-0 Big South). Simmons was named the Big South Coach of the Year and the Runnin’ Bulldogs made the program’s second NCAA Tournament appearance before falling in the first round to No. 2 seed Utah.

At the start of April, Simmons was named the next head coach at Memphis. Walker decommitted from Gardner-Webb on April 10 and announced a final four of UK, Southern Cal, Syracuse and Wisconsin on April 28.

It didn’t take long for her phone to start ringing, and it makes sense. As a senior, Walker averaged 20.3 points, 14.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. She surpassed 1,000 career points with Sandy Creek in February and was named the Region 5 Class 3A Player of the Year at the conclusion of her senior season.

“Of the schools that were in my top four,” Walker said, “or the schools that were recruiting me, Kentucky was actually one of the last ones to reach out. But it was still super quick. As soon as my name, you know, appeared in the portal, I was getting calls within the next 15 minutes. So it was just like, Kentucky was probably like a couple of days after that. Reached out through my AAU coach, Coach Dorian (Williams) from Hoop Dreams Athletics, and, you know, just a connection was built from there.”

There are far easier times to go through this process than spring of one’s senior year, but Walker said she appreciated the effort that UK head coach Kyra Elzy and her coaching staff put forth on her official visit. It also didn’t hurt that it’s not too far from home, with Tyrone about a six-hour drive from campus.

“My official visit was so, so different because, you know, the athletes were off technically,” Walker explained. “So they weren’t allowed to be in the same place as the coaches and stuff, those are rules and regulations. But honestly, just, the things that they had me do, like the academic support, just the nature of the city. Like you get a nice mix of suburban, and you also have that city. It reminded me of back home. And that’s what I really appreciated about the place. Really appreciated how, you know, it was recruitment time, you know, AAU tournaments were happening. Coach Elzy and Coach Jen (Hoover), they still came to my visit. That made me feel really important. I felt that love from the beginning.”

Walker also connected quickly with Elzy and appreciated the full picture of who the head coach really is.

“Just the bright energy that she is,” Walker said. “Just the encouragement is out of this world. She gives you what you need. You know, not everybody needs the same thing. People react to different things differently. She molds how she operates to who you are and makes sure you get what you need. And I think one of the biggest factors in choosing a head coach, as far as, you know, the other options that I had, it was just seeing her out of being a coach. Being a mother, being a woman, seeing the person that she is, the qualities that she holds. She is going to care about me more than my statistics, like what I can produce.”

In the middle of answering what she liked about Elzy, the coach entered the room and politely interrupted the interview to check in on and hug Walker, who had just returned from a few days of a fever topping 100 degrees.

“I was sick for three days, a 101 fever, throwing up,” Walker explained after Elzy’s exit. “And she was checking on me every day, I was about to go stay at her house. Who’s doing that? She’s just an amazing person beyond the court and I can really appreciate that about her.”

It’s fair to say that Elzy was just as happy about Walker choosing the Wildcats.

“She is an ambitious, focused and talented player who is ready to get right to work,” Elzy said in the press release announcing Walker’s signing. “She is a competitor and plays with a chip on her shoulder, which will fit the personality of this team. Janaé has great size, athleticism and versatility, which will help make us more dynamic in the post.”

Standing at 6-foot-4 — and recently measuring a 14-size shoe — Walker checks in as the tallest member of the Wildcats’ roster. As soon as she signed, UK social media called her a post player. And, following the graduation of Adebola Adeyeye and Nyah Leveretter recovering from an ACL torn in late February, Walker will most certainly be called upon to help this season in the frontcourt with returner Ajae Petty. Walker joins the Wildcats as one of three newcomers, alongside fellow freshman Jordy Griggs and Tennessee transfer Brooklynn Miles.

“You know, we have size,” Walker said. “But I’m the tallest player on the roster, so I bring more size, you know what I’m saying? So, I just think from that aspect, I bring good size, good physicality. I have a nice mid-range jumper, so I can stretch the floor. I can take you off the dribble, too.”

Walker’s Sandy Creek coach, Tishay Lewis, doesn’t doubt her ability to succeed at UK.

“Janaé is an athletic big who also has a very high basketball IQ,” Lewis said. “She will bring tenacity and a determined spirit to the Kentucky women’s basketball team. Janaé has always been goal-oriented and I believe her desire to be successful at goals she has set for herself and her team is what will help her to being successful on the collegiate level.”

Walker’s goal-setting is evident in all areas of her life. She can play the piano, drums, violin and guitar. She’s entering UK as a biology major with dreams of medical school thanks to an appreciation for forensics.

“Do medical examination, forensics, that kind of thing,” Walker said. “… The shows, the documentaries, all that stuff. It’s just so interesting. People are like, ‘You really think you could, you know, look at dead bodies?’ And I’m like, ‘I love it, so!’”

On the court, Walker said she’s working on her three-point shot, her agility and getting faster. She also has a goal of helping return UK to the high of its 2022 SEC Tournament championship.

“I want to get back to that so badly,” Walker said. “And I think that, returning what we have and with the newcomers, I think it’s so possible. Like, it’s so within reach. The culture is already built from 2022. It’s there. We just need to push and I think it’s here now, so it’s time to wake ‘em up.”

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