It didn’t take Corbin Walker long to commit after receiving an offer from Montana football.
The athlete from Hazen High School in Renton, Washington, announced his commitment on Twitter on November 1, just eight days after the Griz extended a scholarship offer on October 24.
“I had been talking to the coaches for a while, and I was just waiting for them to pull the trigger so that I could commit and further my academics and football there,” Walker said.
Walker picked Montana over offers from Montana State, which he said was “pushing him hard” late in the process, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa and Air Force.
He said that he is planning to study business accounting at Montana.
A three-star recruit per 247 Sports, the 6-foot, 180-pounder played offense and defense for Hazen this year, catching 74 passes for 1,155 yards and 10 touchdowns while making 34 tackles and breaking up seven passes as a cornerback. He was the North Puget South League Offensive Player of the Year.
“I would like to think of myself as an explosive player,” Walker said. “I think I can make plays with the ball in my hand or when the ball is in the air, so I think I would say that I was an explosive player, if I had to say anything about my game.”
Although he might get a chance to show what he can do as a receiver for the Griz, Montana’s bigger need is at corner, and it’s there that Walker is expecting to begin his career. He only allowed opposing receivers to catch four passes all of last season and did not allow a touchdown. He earned first-team All-North Puget Sound League honors at both receiver and defensive back each of the last two seasons.
Secondary coaches Shann Schillinger (safeties) and C.J. Cox (corners) were his primary recruiters.
Walker is hoping that, just as quickly as he committed, he’ll get a chance to play for Montana.
“I feel like I can really fit in there, and they do have an opening for a corner, so I felt like I would be able to compete for a chance to play early,” Walker said. “I feel like I might get to play early, so getting on the field, that’s really exciting for me.”
Walker was a four-year starter for Hazen, and helped turn the program around. The Highlanders were 2-7 in each of his first two years, but went 7-2 in 2017 as Walker, a junior, had 62 receptions, broke up nine passes on defense, and was named all-purpose Player of the Year in the NPSL Cascade Division.
Hazen finished 6-4 this year, with a disappointing loss to Skyview in the playoffs that ended Walker’s career.
“I love my teammates and my coaches, they’ve supported me through all this. That’s one thing that’s going to stick with me,” Walker said.
The Montana coaches contacted him on Twitter this summer, before his senior year, and he visited the campus for the first time in the summer as well.
Walker is now the 13th commitment in Montana’s 2019 recruiting class, and the second cornerback, after Billings West’s Trevin Gradney.
