The sun isn't even fully up in Gainesville this Sunday. But Chris Walker has committed to the Gators, and Florida's dream recruiting Class of 2013 is well on its way to being reality.
Walker committed to Florida over Kentucky, Kansas, and Louisville at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, and did so with a video from Home Team Hoops, his "official college announcement mixtape," that put his flirtations with all four schools to an end and promised the highest achievement possible in his college career.
"This is Chris Walker, and I have a special announcement for everybody. And my announcement is that I will be playing college basketball for the University of Florida."
"And I will be teaming up with my teammate, Kasey Hill, and we will be the best duo in college basketball. And we will win a national championship. You heard it here first."
The commitment was a long-awaited one: Billy Donovan and his staff had been among the first coaches to take an interest in the 6'9" power forward from Bonifay, an AAU teammate (first on the Florida Rams, more recently on the reformed Florida Elite) of fellow elite point guard Kasey Hill. When Donovan secured Hill's commitment on New Year's Eve in 2011, it was seen as a late Christmas present — and a precursor to Donovan wrapping up Walker before too long.
Walker and Hill are both consensus top-10 prospects, and the kind of highly-regarded players Florida has never landed more than one of in a season prior to the Class of 2013. They will make the Gators national championship contenders in 2013 and in any season they remain at Florida.