Finding Joy in Manhattan
Jan 09, 2024 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
When she was in the sixth grade, Zyanna Walker shot baskets on the basketball goal outside her family home, the one she'd lived in all her life, the one in Wichita, Kansas, where her routine was relatively simple.
She shot baskets. That's what she did. And then she began walking to the YMCA after school. More shooting. Usually beginning at around 3:30 p.m. and lasting until the last pick-up game at around 8 or 9 p.m. People watched. They said, "If you can get a jump shot you can get to the next level." The summer prior to her seventh-grade year she found her mid-range jump shot. She remembers her eighth-grade year especially well.
"That was the year I received my first scholarship offer — Wichita State," she says.
Then over the course of her high school career at Wichita Heights High School, her game and legend really grew. She reached exciting heights. Her father, Maurice Walker, installed a concrete slab behind the house big enough for her to work on her mid-range jumpshot during COVID. She found her touch. She was rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 15 overall player in the Class of 2022 by Prep Girls Hoops. She earned 2022 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year honors after averaging 25.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 5.1 steals. She received between 30 and 40 Division I scholarship offers, opting to sign with Louisville in part because "they put players in the pros, which is what I wanted to do."
"I learned to stay confident and trust in the work and your time will come," she says. "I was debating if I should transfer. I was debating if I should stay. I had a great opportunity to play. Or should I test my luck somewhere else? I decided to go somewhere else."
Walker played sparingly in five games her freshman season at Louisville. Sometimes stuff happens.
The 5-foot-8 Walker, a redshirt freshman, found a home in her proverbial backyard. K-State announced the signing of Walker on May 4 after she committed to the Wildcats following an official visit to Manhattan. She sensed an instant spark on her visit. She loved the family atmosphere. She loved the joy that she found in the Little Apple.
These days, she takes joy in helping K-State to achieve great heights.
"Defensively, she's really played well and has really grown in that area as another defensive stopper for us," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie says. "She has a good attention and good competitiveness to her. Offensively, she just continues to get better and has a better understanding and gets better in every area."
Walker is the top performer off the bench for No. 12 K-State, 15-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12 Conference, which is off to one of its best starts in school history. She averages 7.6 points on 50% shooting (50-of-100) and averages 35.7% on 3-pointers (10-of-28), and averages 3.7 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game.
We should've seen this coming. She scored 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 on 3-pointers, in the season opener against Presbyterian. She has scored in double figures seven times this season, including a season-high 14 points against Oral Roberts. She had a season-high seven rebounds against Missouri. She had a season-high seven assists against Southern.
What most impresses Mittie so far? How Walker came off the bench to give K-State a spark in its emotional 65-58 win at No. 4 Iowa. The Wildcats needed a lift, and Walker delivered. She had 12 points in 28 minutes and at times was charged with guarding All-American Caitlin Clark.
"The Iowa game on the road, defending Clark and being in that role as a player who's only a couple games into her career at Kansas State, that was pretty special," Mittie says. "She handled big moments on the floor. She played very well offensively and made a huge shot in that game off a right dribble with physical contact. We were struggling at the time and it kind of relaxed us and got us back into rhythm.
"She made a big play, and she has that capability."
Walker smiles at the memory.
"When we beat then, the silence of the crowd, that was special," she says. "The whole game everybody was so loud, and when we beat them, it felt good to hear that silence. That was definitely a statement moment for our program Now we're No. 11 in the nation."
And the Wildcats continue to march on. They host Oklahoma, 9-5 and 3-0, on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats have an opportunity to make some noise if they can beat Oklahoma and then topple No. 10 Texas, 15-1 and 2-1, on Saturday in Manhattan.
Expect Walker to be in the mix, scoring or passing or rebounding or deflecting passes. Among all things, she delivers energy.
"She's our hype person before the game," says junior point guard Serena Sundell. "Every time after our lineup walk-outs, she's always the one in the middle screaming and we're huddled around her. She's always bringing that energy."
As 2022 All-American Ayoka Lee says: "Zy just has an amazing mindset, and when she's determined to do something, she's going to do it," Lee says. "She's very competitive and very determined. She brings a really great spark to us and that's been a really big part of her growth, just continuing to bring that day in and day out."
You get the feeling Walker could ignite the Wildcats nightly over the course of the Big 12 season.
"My potential is just to get out there and find ways for us to win, to do the little things — score, play defense, get rebounds and find ways to get my teammates involved, and getting steals and deflections," Walker says. "Deflections don't show up on the stat sheet, but they're very important in messing up a team's offense. I'm going to box out and make sure I stick to the scout. I'm going to do all the little things."
What has Walker learned most over the course of her journey?
"Just always be yourself, stay true to yourself and enjoy it because it's life," she says. "Just enjoy every moment of it."
There should be many more moments to enjoy this season.
"We all love each other," Walker says. "It's like we're a family. It's a whole bunch of fun. I definitely think we can make a deep run in the tournament for sure just because of what we've shown so far. We can beat these tough teams. We've been Iowa, we've beaten UNC, an ACC team, and we've beaten the Big Ten, and we've shown ourselves against almost every conference this year."
For now, the Wildcats have Big 12 business to take care of in their own backyard.
And Walker, behind her shooting touch, energy and competitiveness, should be in the thick of helping close the deal.
When she was in the sixth grade, Zyanna Walker shot baskets on the basketball goal outside her family home, the one she'd lived in all her life, the one in Wichita, Kansas, where her routine was relatively simple.
She shot baskets. That's what she did. And then she began walking to the YMCA after school. More shooting. Usually beginning at around 3:30 p.m. and lasting until the last pick-up game at around 8 or 9 p.m. People watched. They said, "If you can get a jump shot you can get to the next level." The summer prior to her seventh-grade year she found her mid-range jump shot. She remembers her eighth-grade year especially well.
"That was the year I received my first scholarship offer — Wichita State," she says.
Then over the course of her high school career at Wichita Heights High School, her game and legend really grew. She reached exciting heights. Her father, Maurice Walker, installed a concrete slab behind the house big enough for her to work on her mid-range jumpshot during COVID. She found her touch. She was rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 15 overall player in the Class of 2022 by Prep Girls Hoops. She earned 2022 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year honors after averaging 25.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 5.1 steals. She received between 30 and 40 Division I scholarship offers, opting to sign with Louisville in part because "they put players in the pros, which is what I wanted to do."
"I learned to stay confident and trust in the work and your time will come," she says. "I was debating if I should transfer. I was debating if I should stay. I had a great opportunity to play. Or should I test my luck somewhere else? I decided to go somewhere else."
Walker played sparingly in five games her freshman season at Louisville. Sometimes stuff happens.
The 5-foot-8 Walker, a redshirt freshman, found a home in her proverbial backyard. K-State announced the signing of Walker on May 4 after she committed to the Wildcats following an official visit to Manhattan. She sensed an instant spark on her visit. She loved the family atmosphere. She loved the joy that she found in the Little Apple.
These days, she takes joy in helping K-State to achieve great heights.
"Defensively, she's really played well and has really grown in that area as another defensive stopper for us," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie says. "She has a good attention and good competitiveness to her. Offensively, she just continues to get better and has a better understanding and gets better in every area."
Walker is the top performer off the bench for No. 12 K-State, 15-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12 Conference, which is off to one of its best starts in school history. She averages 7.6 points on 50% shooting (50-of-100) and averages 35.7% on 3-pointers (10-of-28), and averages 3.7 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game.
We should've seen this coming. She scored 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 on 3-pointers, in the season opener against Presbyterian. She has scored in double figures seven times this season, including a season-high 14 points against Oral Roberts. She had a season-high seven rebounds against Missouri. She had a season-high seven assists against Southern.
What most impresses Mittie so far? How Walker came off the bench to give K-State a spark in its emotional 65-58 win at No. 4 Iowa. The Wildcats needed a lift, and Walker delivered. She had 12 points in 28 minutes and at times was charged with guarding All-American Caitlin Clark.
"The Iowa game on the road, defending Clark and being in that role as a player who's only a couple games into her career at Kansas State, that was pretty special," Mittie says. "She handled big moments on the floor. She played very well offensively and made a huge shot in that game off a right dribble with physical contact. We were struggling at the time and it kind of relaxed us and got us back into rhythm.
"She made a big play, and she has that capability."
Walker smiles at the memory.
"When we beat then, the silence of the crowd, that was special," she says. "The whole game everybody was so loud, and when we beat them, it felt good to hear that silence. That was definitely a statement moment for our program Now we're No. 11 in the nation."
And the Wildcats continue to march on. They host Oklahoma, 9-5 and 3-0, on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats have an opportunity to make some noise if they can beat Oklahoma and then topple No. 10 Texas, 15-1 and 2-1, on Saturday in Manhattan.
Expect Walker to be in the mix, scoring or passing or rebounding or deflecting passes. Among all things, she delivers energy.
"She's our hype person before the game," says junior point guard Serena Sundell. "Every time after our lineup walk-outs, she's always the one in the middle screaming and we're huddled around her. She's always bringing that energy."
As 2022 All-American Ayoka Lee says: "Zy just has an amazing mindset, and when she's determined to do something, she's going to do it," Lee says. "She's very competitive and very determined. She brings a really great spark to us and that's been a really big part of her growth, just continuing to bring that day in and day out."
You get the feeling Walker could ignite the Wildcats nightly over the course of the Big 12 season.
"My potential is just to get out there and find ways for us to win, to do the little things — score, play defense, get rebounds and find ways to get my teammates involved, and getting steals and deflections," Walker says. "Deflections don't show up on the stat sheet, but they're very important in messing up a team's offense. I'm going to box out and make sure I stick to the scout. I'm going to do all the little things."
What has Walker learned most over the course of her journey?
"Just always be yourself, stay true to yourself and enjoy it because it's life," she says. "Just enjoy every moment of it."
There should be many more moments to enjoy this season.
"We all love each other," Walker says. "It's like we're a family. It's a whole bunch of fun. I definitely think we can make a deep run in the tournament for sure just because of what we've shown so far. We can beat these tough teams. We've been Iowa, we've beaten UNC, an ACC team, and we've beaten the Big Ten, and we've shown ourselves against almost every conference this year."
For now, the Wildcats have Big 12 business to take care of in their own backyard.
And Walker, behind her shooting touch, energy and competitiveness, should be in the thick of helping close the deal.
Players Mentioned
Wednesday, June 03
Tuesday, June 02
Monday, June 01
Thursday, May 28
