Fresh off an appearance in the Tennessee Class 6-A state championship game that brought his high school career to a close, Vols commit Walker Merrill is just days away from signing his National Letter of Intent in the Early Signing Period.
“I’ll be signing on the first day, December 16, and I’ll be enrolling early,” Walker told Volquest. “I’m excited and I’m ready for this next stage in life. I think God put me on earth for this reason and I’ve got to step up. It’s kind of weird leaving high school this week but I know I have greater things ahead of me.”
The prep football chapter nearly had a perfect ending. However, Merrill and Brentwood came up short in a shootout this past weekend, falling to Oakland 56-33 during Saturday’s title game in Cookeville, Tenn.
“We started off a little slow before the offense really picked up in the second half,” Merrill reflected. “I did alright – the best I could.
“We obviously didn’t go out with a full-bang, as they would say. I guess it was a half-bang. But we haven’t been to a state championship in 18 years. It’s kind of great to go down in the books in reaching that game. It’s good to go out like that.”
The 6-foot-1, 175-pound wideout missed some time this fall with a nagging hamstring injury. All told, Merrill had to sit out two full games and missed parts of two others while trying to nurse himself back to full health prior to the playoff run.
“I learned a lot this year, but most of all, I learned not to take anything for granted,” the Tennessee commit said. “Every year, you always think you have so much time left and then your senior year gets here and you only have a few games left. And then a few more and so on.
“I was sitting there injured for some games wishing I was out there. If I could tell any high schooler any type of advice right now, it would be to not take anything for granted.”
Now its onward and upward for the in-state product who possesses 4.4 second-speed in the 40-yard dash. Merrill is a skilled route runner and hopes to be a newcomer who can come in and earn his stripes early on.
“Coming in early, I’ve really got to earn my keep and make the most of the opportunity,” the four-star said. “I’m excited and I think they [UT coaching staff] are as well. I talk with coach [Tee] Martin all the time and coach [Jeremy] Pruitt was always asking me about if I was going to be an early enrollee.”
Once he steps on campus, Merrill plans to soak up any knowledge he can from what will now be a veteran group of receivers. And even though he may not actually play with current seniors Josh Palmer and Velus Jones Jr., the mid-year freshman plans to pick their brains.
There’s a couple of young guys who are on Merrill’s radar as well.
“Jalin Hyatt is only a freshman and he’s out there balling out on the field. How could you not look up to that,” Merrill said. “Eric Gray has played so well early on in his career. He’s turning heads and that’s something I want to do.
“I look up to that.”
The Middle Tennessee native has been in contact with a few of his fellow commits in the 2021 class, talking ball and life – forging relationships prior to becoming teammates.
“I think we have a great class coming in. The program is on the rise,” the wideout said. “We’ve had some tough games this year, but it’s an all-SEC schedule. You get fried if you don’t win. We have a great class coming in and we hope to change some things.”
Though Merrill grew up in-state, he wasn’t really a Tennessee fan - or a fan of any other school for the matter. Of course, he’s all Vol now and is excited for the support for those around him as he takes on this new journey.
“I just kind of watched the best games that were on every weekend growing up,” Merrill concluded. “But everyone I know loves Tennessee. I’ve got a big community supporting me and even have some friends from my school who are going to Tennessee.
“It’s really nice to know I have people in my corner.”
