Walker To Return as Super Senior in 2022-23

The Nebraska men’s basketball program will return its leading rebounder next season, as Derrick Walker Jr. announced Tuesday that he will return to Nebraska for the 2022-23 season.

Walker a 6-foot-9 forward from Kansas City, is utilizing his fifth season of eligibility and has started all 48 games at Nebraska since becoming eligible in January of 2021 after transferring from Tennessee.

Last season, Walker was the only Husker to start all 32 games, averaging 9.5 points per game while pacing the Huskers with 6.0 rebounds per game. Walker shot 68.3 percent from the field, breaking NU’s single-season mark for field goal percentage which had stood since the 1975-76 season.

He posted 18 double-figure scoring efforts, including a career high 16 points on three occasions, and posted three double-doubles on the year. His three double-doubles in 2021-22 came at NC State and against nationally ranked Auburn and Ohio State. Walker also topped NU with 29 blocked shots.

Walker played his best basketball down the stretch, averaging 11.0 points on 73 percent shooting and 6.8 rebounds per game over the Huskers’ final five games, including wins at nationally ranked Ohio State and Wisconsin. He closed his 2021-22 season with 16 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots in the Big Ten Tournament against Northwestern.

Before joining the Huskers, Walker spent two seasons at Tennessee, helping the Volunteer to an SEC regular-season title in 2017-18 and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2018-19. Walker is currently working on his master’s degree after graduating from Nebraska in May of 2021.