Keizertimes., August 31, 2018, Page 19, Image 19

AUGUST 31, 2018, KEIZERTIMES FOOTBALL PREVIEW, PAGE C5
McNary linebacker a top recruit
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Raised a Beaver, Junior
Walling got his dream offer
early.
But that hasn’t stopped
the McNary linebacker from
working as hard as ever.
After meeting with Oregon
State head coach Jonathan
Smith and getting his fi rst
Division-I offer on a visit to
Corvallis in April, Walling spent
the summer at the University
of California, San Jose State,
UNLV, Washington State,
Utah, Eastern Washington and
the University of Oregon.
“It was unreal,” Walling said
of the OSU offer. “I was truly
honored to even be there and
get to talk to those coaches. It
was amazing. I think a lot of
people are excited about the
Oregon State offer because
it’s close and there’s a bunch
of Beaver fans out here so I
think it’s pretty cool getting
that offer.”
Walling’s dad played football
at Oregon State and the family
had season tickets until Junior
was old enough to play youth
football and Saturday’s became
about his games. But the
Wallings still attend at least one
or two Beaver games a year.
Walling isn’t as familiar
with the other schools.
“I’ve been to OSU tons
of times and I know that
the best,” Walling said. “I’m
trying to learn about other
schools and how each school
is different and which school
best fi ts me academically and
athletically.”
Walling mostly stays in
contact with coaches through
Twitter. Along with Oregon
State, Oregon, Washington,
Boise State, Utah, UCLA
and Eastern Washington are
showing the most interests.
He is rated the No. 1 high
school inside linebacker in
the northwest for the Class of
2019 and 2020 by 247 sports as
well as the No. 14 2020 inside
linebacker in the country
and No. 4 2020 prospect in
Oregon at any position.
Walling was invited to the
Adidas Rivals Combine in
March, the Nike Opening
in Las Vegas in May, May
Madness featuring the top 150
prospects in the northwest and
Saturday Night Lights Camp
at the University of Oregon
in June.
“It was just fun competing
against such great talent and
such great coaching,” Walling
said. “I just love competing
against all those kids. A lot of
Submitted
Junior Walling, with his father, Jason, has an offer from Oregon State and received attention from schools all over the Northwest.
coaches give me tips on what
I need to improve on, which I
love, being more explosive and
stuff like that.”
Working out with Jake
Forshey at Forshey Training
Systems in Salem four days a
week, Walling has gotten both
stronger and faster. He weighs
more than 220 pounds after
playing at 210 last season.
Walling hasn’t decided
when he will commit.
“Whenever it feels right
and see what else comes my
way and I’ll choose after that,”
Walling said.
Most important is academ-
ics when picking a college.
He’d also like to stay close to
home.
“I think it will be good
to be close with my family,”
Walling said. “We’re really
close so I think it would
be good to stay home but
whatever feels right. We’ll
see.”
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