'She's a unicorn': Here's what makes this York County two-sport star a Division I athlete

Faith Walker was fortunate to have options. A lot of options.

Of course, having options doesn't make a decision any easier.

The West York senior basketball player earned 16 scholarship offers from schools across the country. She could play for schools located in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Massachusetts ... even Michigan, South Carolina and California. There was also the opportunity to get an Ivy League education at Cornell.

"It definitely made it kind of tough because I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted to go," Walker said. "In the end, I decided off of where I can call my next family."

For Walker, that was Duquesne. She verbally committed to the Division I school in Pittsburgh last week. She can officially sign with the program next month.

The process was not a quick one for the 6-foot-1 forward. Walker received her first offer from Fordham the summer after her freshman year and saw the interest around her explode this offseason as she played for an Under Armour-affiliated AAU team based in western Pennsylvania. She picked up 11 more offers and initially planned to decide around the start of the school year.

Jason Getz, her high school head coach, thought she might be swayed by a late offer from Cal State Bakersfield.

But Walker kept coming back to Duquesne. She knows the city from her AAU travels and plans to enter the school's five-year Physician Assistant Studies program. The Dukes went 19-12 last season and have stability with 11th-year head coach Dan Burt.

"I didn't want to rush the process," she said. "The head coach definitely looked at the future. He was asking about my career and future plans. That's something a lot of other coaches didn't do."

It's not surprising Walker is a Division I athlete. She has the height and stature that's easy to notice when she enters a room or steps on a court. She moves quickly but also smoothly and gracefully.

But she's also somewhat atypical. She's remained a passionate and devoted volleyball player despite going through an exhausting year-round recruiting process for basketball. And she's always been a player who stuffs the stat sheet more than she lights up the scoreboard — usually contributing with assists, rebounds and blocks more than points.

But to her and those around her, those qualities helped make her the recruit she became.

"She's a unicorn," Getz said. "She can defend the post, the wing and the point guard. She's intelligent. She can handle the ball, play on the wing and knock down some 3-pointers. As she matures physically the days ahead are only going to get better for her."

How unselfish is too unselfish?

Walker's family taught her about toughness from an early age.

She would play one-on-one basketball games against her brother, Jaden, who is two years her senior. Now a sophomore at NCAA Division III St. Mary's, Jaden lacked his sister's height but used poise and determination to become one of the YAIAA's best boys' hoops players during his high school days.

He never let his sister win.

"He taught me a lot about confidence," Walker said. "He's always been confident in everything he's done."

Throughout her own career, Walker has tried to find the balance between confidence and selflessness. She's started since her freshman season but has never been among the YAIAA's top scorers. She averaged 7.0 points as a sophomore, and while that number jumped to 11.9 last season, it was still just 11th in the league.

Part of that is due to discipline. Walker said she was taught not to force her shot and to look for open teammates. She's always taken pride in being able to affect the game without scoring.

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There's plenty of merit to that. She was a big part of a well-rounded West York team that made the PIAA Elite Eight her sophomore year. She averaged close to seven rebounds and four assists per game last season as the Bulldogs improved from a slow start to make the district playoffs.

Still, she has the talent to take over games in a way most of her teammates cannot.

"It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be to get her to shoot because she's so unselfish," Getz said. "When she plays AAU she plays with so many girls going D1 that it makes sense for her to pass. She's so smart about taking open shots, but I'd like to see her dominate in the paint a little more often."

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Walker's pass-first mindset will benefit her in college when she's no longer the biggest or most athletic player on the court. Still, she acknowledged she could be more assertive offensively. She pointed to an 18-point performance in a 42-40 upset win over Eastern York last year as a sign of her potential.

Getz said he would love to see Walker average 18 to 20 points per game but reiterated West York's main goal will be improving from last year's 13-13 record.

"What separates her is you don't have to run plays for her because she creates them for herself," Getz said. "It's not just about scoring with her. I won't be surprised if her assists keep going up. Not to be cliched, but I have all the faith in her."

Excited, not overwhelmed by the past and for the future

Even with her commitment, Walker hasn't been too focused on basketball lately.

She's still in the midst of her final volleyball season.

Walker is one of the best middle hitters in the YAIAA. West York is currently 9-5 and gearing up for a postseason run.

She said she never considered giving up the sport for basketball. In fact, she's played club volleyball throughout high school and gave serious thought to playing it in college over basketball.

"It's hard to explain but volleyball has helped my agility and my hops when I jump," she said. "That is my focus right now because it's my last season."

Walker said she's trying to stay in the moment rather than look ahead to college. She's excited for her final basketball season and hopes to play deep into March like the Bulldogs did two years ago.

While she's happy her college decision has been made, she doesn't want to act like the process was overly stressful. It might not have been easy, but she's grateful to have had so many choices.

"It was definitely nerve-racking but I would never say it was overwhelming," she said. "I just had a good balance with everything. I hung out with my friends, I had time to talk to coaches and go on visits. And still work on my skill development. It's not a process everyone can go through, but it was exciting."

Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: West York's Faith Walker commits to play for Duquesne basketball