Chris Walker to return to Florida for sophomore season

Chris Walker will return to Florida for his sophomore season.

Florida's towering and talented forward made the announcement on Twitter on Wednesday after a handful of reports indicated he was leaning toward remaining in Gainesville.

This year has been a great one, and I'm happy to say I will be joining the gatornation again for one more year!

— Chris Walker (@cwalkertime23) April 9, 2014

That announcement was immediately followed by a Chris Harry write-up announcing Walker's decision on GatorZone.

Walker did little on the court in his 18 games as a Gator, which all came after his February 4 debut against Missouri, and a prolonged struggle to be cleared by the NCAA. He averaged 1.9 points and 1.3 rebounds per game, not the statistics of a surefire NBA Draft pick by any stretch.

But Walker also looked every bit the future NBA star he was billed as during the season of hype for the high school class of 2013 for stretches, most notably against UCLA. Walker had seven points, three rebounds, and a block in six minutes against the Bruins, and looked as good in his limited minutes as any player on the floor, in a game that featured a handful of likely future NBA players.

Just four days after suffering his first loss as a college player, Walker is ready for more of them — and some wins, too. And he will become a focal point of Florida's reload after the winningest season in school history.

Walker, more than anyone else, has some unfinished business to attend to: He, after all, guaranteed a national title for Florida when he committed in July 2012.

After coming close as a little-used role player for Florida's Final Four run, the man nicknamed "Sky" can begin the work of turning himself into the star that can help lead Florida to that promised title.

Given his unearthly gifts, the sky is still the limit for Chris Walker.