UNC Basketball: Walker Kessler earns Gatorade POTY honors for Georgia

A UNC Basketball commit earned some big honors earlier in the week when he was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Georgia

Class of 2020 center Walker Kessler is one of five recruits in North Carolina’s impressive class that is ranked No. 3 overall. The five-star recruit is one of three five-star recruits in the class joining fellow big man Day’Ron Sharpe and guard Caleb Love as well as four-star recruits Donovan “Puff” Johnson and R.J. Davis.

As Kessler wrapped up his high school career unexpectedly with the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling the remaining all-star games, the big man is still being honored for his final season at Woodward Academy in Fairburn Georgia.

Earlier in the week, Kessler was named the Gatorade Boy’s Player of the Year for the state of Georgia, a big accolade which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court.

The 7-foot center averaged 17.8 points, 9.3 assists, 5.2 blocks and 1.3 steals per game in his final season of high school basketball.

Kessler helped lead Woodward to a 30-2 overall record and the Class AAAA state championship this past season. He finished that title game scoring 17 points and grabbing 9 rebounds as it would be the final high school game of his career.

The No. 17 overall recruit in the 247 Sports rankings picked the Tar Heels back in November of 2019 and did so as a surprise to some. Kessler was wrapping up his official visit weekend and elected to commit to the Tar Heels late on the final day of his trip. The elite post player will now take his talents to Chapel Hill beginning in Fall of 2020.

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