Jada Walker Named SEC Freshman of the Week
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky women’s basketball freshman guard Jada Walker has been named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week for her strong play last week helping the Wildcats to a four-game winning streak.
Walker becomes the first Kentucky player to win the weekly honor from the league office since Rhyne Howard won a league-high eight freshman of the week honors during the 2018-19 season. The native of Richmond, Virginia, becomes the 11th player in program history to win the honor, joining some of the best players in program history, including Carly Ormerod, Victoria Dunlap, Amber Smith, A’dia Mathies, Bernish Pinkett, Jennifer O’Neill and Bria Goss.
Walker earned the title this week after leading Kentucky to three wins, starting each game. The week started when Walker helped lead a historic Kentucky comeback against Mississippi State, scoring 17 points with five rebounds and one steal. The rookie was a perfect 3-for-3 from long range against the Bulldogs and was 6-of-11 from the field overall. She followed that with 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals against Vanderbilt. Again she was on target from long range, hitting three 3-pointers. It marked the first time all season she has hit three 3s in consecutive games. In Kentucky’s impressive win at Arkansas, Walker scored seven points with three rebounds, two steals and one assist. She hit a 3 against the Razorbacks and was 3-for-4 overall from the field. Her 3-point shooting on the week helped Kentucky hit seven or more 3s as a team in each of its last three games for the first time this season in league play.
The guard has been a star for Kentucky this season, playing in all 24 games with 15 starts, averaging 27 minutes per game. She has impacted games on both ends of the floor, scoring 10 or more points in 13 games, while her on-ball defense has helped the Wildcats tremendously. Walker is averaging 10.3 points per game this season, hitting 41 percent from the field and 38 percent from long range. She has hit a 3 in 14 games, including three or more in four games. Walker ranks third on the team this season in assists with 48 and is second in steals with 36.
Walker’s best games have come against some of the best teams as she scored 16 points with two steals at top-10 ranked Indiana and followed that with 13 points, four rebounds and a steal against West Virginia. The guard was impressive against DePaul, scoring 19 points with two steals, while she had 15 points and hit three 3s against top-20 ranked Georgia. Her season-high performance came at top-15 ranked LSU, scoring 21 points, going 4-of-5 from 3 and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line with three assists and two steals.
Walker and the Wildcats will be back in action Thursday at Missouri at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+ and Darren Headrick will have the call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
