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Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor and McKinney product, taken 19th by Toronto Raptors in NBA draft

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Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor and McKinney product, taken 19th by Toronto Raptors in NBA draft

McKinney native Ja’Kobe Walter was selected 19th overall by the Toronto Raptors in the first round of Wednesday’s NBA Draft.

Walter, 19, was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in his lone season at Baylor. He played his first three seasons of high school basketball at McKinney before he transferred to Link Academy (Mo.) for his senior year.

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The 6-foot-5 guard was named to The Dallas Morning News’ all-area first team in his junior season after he averaged 23.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and led McKinney to its first state tournament in 94 years, and its first-ever state championship game. Walter scored a game-high 23 points in a 6A state championship game loss to Duncanville, though McKinney was later awarded the title after Duncanville was penalized for use of an ineligible player.

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Walter — a five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American — transferred to Link Academy before his senior season and led the nationally-ranked prep program to a GEICO National Championship and the No. 1 spot in ESPN’s boys basketball rankings.

He averaged 14.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in his lone season at Baylor and earned a spot on the All-Big 12 third team. He scored the second-most points (508) by a freshman in program history and helped Baylor reach the second round of the NCAA tournament.

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Walter is the fourth Baylor player to be drafted in the first round in as many years, joining Lewisville’s Keyonte George (2023), Jeremy Sochan (2022) and Davion Mitchell (2021).

Twitter: @SportsDayHS

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