Portsmouth's Walker to attend Bridgton Academy

from the Portsmouth Herald:

PORTSMOUTH — Senior guard Kamahl Walker, who led the Portsmouth High School boys basketball team to its second Division II championship in four years this winter, has decided to attend Bridgton Academy for a postgraduate year.

Walker said he made the decision earlier this month after receiving his acceptance letter from the school in March. He said his other options were the Tilton School and Berwick Academy.

"I just felt it was right for me," said Walker, also citing the financial aid package he received as a big reason. "When I went there on a visit I got a good feel from the players on the team."

Walker averaged 21 points for a Portsmouth team that went 20-2 and beat Bedford in the Division II championship game. He was named Division II Player of the Year and was a candidate for the Gatorade Player of the Year award in New Hampshire that ultimate went to forward Tyler Gendron of Merrimack.

"I believe he's as good as any guard who's ever played at PHS," said Portsmouth coach Jim Mulvey.

Bridgton offers only a postgraduate year to an all-male student body. Players on this year's varsity roster came from six different states and one Canadian province. In the past decade, the program has sent dozens of players on to college basketball programs at the Division I, II and III levels, including Kansas, Kentucky and UConn, according to the school's website.

At 5-foot-10, Walker will give away inches in size at any level he plays at the rest of the way, but his assets include quickness, an ability to defend, and capability to score both on the outside shot and on the drive. He also averaged four assists.

He scored a game-high 22 points as the Clippers closed out their title with a 58-33 win over Bedford in the championship game at the University of New Hampshire on St. Patrick's Day.

Walker, who transferred to Portsmouth after spending his first two years of high school at St. Peter Marian in Worcester, Mass., said he'd like to eventually play college basketball.

"Every basketball player's aim is Division I," he said. "I'd like to go to a Division I school. But I'll go to the college that fits me.

"My dream is to play professional. I hope that's how far basketball takes me."

Walker is the only member of Portsmouth standout senior class planning to continue his basketball career. Guard Bill Lane is headed to Division III Plymouth State for football and track, forward Charlie Duprey is bound for Division III St. Lawrence for lacrosse, and others are undecided.