{"id":5614,"date":"2020-11-23T09:54:39","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T15:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=5614"},"modified":"2020-11-23T09:54:39","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T15:54:39","slug":"jvaun-walker-basketball-recruit-and-stand-out-scholar-chose-uw-superior-for-the-family-feeling","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/jvaun-walker-basketball-recruit-and-stand-out-scholar-chose-uw-superior-for-the-family-feeling\/","title":{"rendered":"J\u2019Vaun Walker, basketball recruit and stand-out scholar, chose UW-Superior for the family feeling"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

From Japan, to England, to Germany, Idaho, Virginia, Texas and now\u2026Superior, Wisconsin \u2013 J\u2019Vaun Walker has lived all over the world and aims to make a positive mark at UW-Superior.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>The son of two military parents, Walker has lived in more places and experienced more in his young life than most people do in a lifetime. He has adapted to numerous cultures, created friendships with people of varied backgrounds, and excelled in nearly everything he\u2019s tried, and yet the first thing you notice when you meet him is humility and respectfulness.<\/p>\n

\u201cJ\u2019Vaun\u2019s academic and athletic accomplishments are well documented,\u201d said Greg Polkowski, head men\u2019s basketball coach at UWS. \u201cBut, one of his greatest strengths that may go overlooked is his humility. It has allowed him to get off to a great start here and I believe will provide him great direction moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

UWS is obviously not the first to recognize Walker\u2019s character. The point guard from Manvel High School, just outside of Houston, Texas, was named Mr. Team his senior year of high school for putting his team before himself. He was also named an All District player two years, Newcomer of the Year his first year on the varsity team, and Mr. Defense his senior year.<\/p>\n

\u201cJ\u2019Vaun is a very capable player who could have played at a number of places,\u201d said Polkowski. \u201cWhen I learned about him from one of my colleagues, I knew he was someone who would make our basketball team and the entire university better. We are thrilled that he is part of the Yellowjacket family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"J'Vaun<\/a><\/p>\n

Family definitely played a big role in Walker choosing UW-Superior above many other schools. From the support and encouragement of his own family to the Yellowjacket family he found in the coaches and players at UWS, Walker said he knew it was the place he wanted to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was weird because I couldn\u2019t come to visit due to COVID-19 and coach couldn\u2019t come visit me in Texas, but after many phone conversations with Coach Polkowski, and interactions with players and even some alumni, I felt a family bond at UWS and I wanted to be part of that. I had been considering going to a much larger university, like LSU, and trying to walk on, but I instantly felt comfortable around the other players here. They accepted and welcomed me and I just knew this was the right place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stand-out basketball player has not only demonstrated excellence on the court, he\u2019s also made his mark in the classroom. Walker plans to major in biology and is interested in a career in the medical field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had pretty much already made up my mind to come to UW-Superior when I found out I had been awarded a Swenson Family Scholarship,\u201d said Walker. \u201cI feel very honored and it really motivates me to achieve my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard enough to pack up bags and travel thousands of miles to a place you\u2019ve never been in a normal year, but 2020 posed some unique challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, it didn\u2019t affect my decision too much,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would be nice to have all my classes face-to-face, but safety comes first, so that can wait.\u00a0 Even though we don\u2019t know exactly what the basketball season will hold, I\u2019m just focusing on building relationships and being prepared so that when we get the chance to charge onto the court, we\u2019ll be the best we can be,\u201d said Walker. \u201cWe will be a family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Japan, to England, to Germany, Idaho, Virginia, Texas and now\u2026Superior, Wisconsin \u2013 J\u2019Vaun Walker has lived all over the world and aims to make a positive mark at UW-Superior. The son of two military parents, Walker has lived in more places and experienced more in his young life than most people do in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":5616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[110],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-5614","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-superior"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/5614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=5614"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=5614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}