UNC baseball recruit Walker Jenkins driven to be the best
SOUTHPORT, N.C. (BVM) 鈥� Being the best at what you do can sometimes take its toll on one鈥檚 body and mind. That isn鈥檛 the case for Walker Jenkins, the No. 1 prep baseball player in North Carolina.
From a young age, Jenkins became infatuated with competition. And at the center of the infatuation was the friendly competition between family members.听
鈥淥ur whole family is a very competitive family,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e always seeing who can win. That鈥檚 just who we are.鈥�
In addition to his family supplying him with the competitiveness many see today, the environment he has grown up in has also played an integral role in him becoming a driven athlete.听
鈥淚 always tell people I grew up in a baseball town,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淲e had five or six DI commits that were my age or a little bit older. And even from a young age, I was a very competitive kid. When I was 6 years old, I played up in rec ball, and I didn鈥檛 make the all-star team at the end of the season. That competitiveness in me and wanting to be the best is kind of what started that drive and love for the game. After that is when I kind of started really working at [baseball] it and really enjoyed it.鈥�
Like any other child or young athlete, he played multiple sports. It just so happened that baseball was the sport he fell in love with. And it was one experience in particular that helped that love grow even more for the University of North Carolina recruit.听
鈥淚 was about 8 or 10 years old; our little rec ball team went to the World Series for ,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a while ago; that will always stick with me because that was a bunch of the kids I grew up with, just all these homegrown boys, hometown kids going all the way to the World Series. That was some of the most fun baseball in my life.鈥�
Lasting memories of them having fun or competing at the highest levels can undoubtedly impact how an athlete continues their career. In the case of Jenkin鈥檚 athletic career, it just speaks volumes about what an athlete can accomplish if he keeps these memories locked away and grinds every day to be the best.听
He is now one of the highly touted baseball recruits in the Class of 2023. In fact, he is the No. 1 player in North Carolina and the fifth best in the nation, according to . And yet, for a player like Jenkins, the rankings don鈥檛 really seem to matter to him.
鈥淭he rankings don鈥檛 mean too much to me,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淚 use them more for motivation. I鈥檒l see them when they pop up on my Instagram feed or Twitter. I don鈥檛 ever really ever go looking for them. But I think it鈥檚 good to have a few people ahead of me in the country. It just makes me want to work even harder. I like being behind; having something to chase [and] something to prove.鈥�
Jenkins has proved time and again that he鈥檚 no fluke. That rings true as he was awarded the Gatorade North Carolina Baseball Player of the Year following the 2021-22 season.
Repping North Carolina on the list 馃檶
Congrats to 's North Carolina Baseball Player of the Year, !
— USA Baseball 18U (@USABaseball18U)
鈥淚 was in the gym at school, and my dad sent me a text saying, 鈥業 think you won Gatorade Player of the Year,鈥欌�� Jenkins said. 鈥淭hen I go and check my email, and sure enough, I got the email that I won it. I was super pumped. I honestly didn鈥檛 think I was going to win it being a junior.鈥�
In his junior season, Jenkins batted .527 with 10 home runs and 40 RBIs, according to . He also recorded an OPS of 1.660. Jenkins once again proved to others and himself that he was more than worthy of the award.听
Walker Jenkins hits two-run home run in fifth inning of third-round playoff game against Croatan, giving South Brunswick a 3-1 lead in an eventual 4-1 victory.
— Michael Paul (@MichaelGPaul)
鈥淚 plan on going out next year and trying to win it again,鈥� Jenkins said.听
In the same way, Jenkins is keeping the motivation of winning another Gatorade POY; he is also keeping his sights on a state title. During his breakout junior season, the South Brunswick star helped lead his team to a state title match-up with South Rowan High School. However, the Panthers would fall short in a three-game series.听
鈥淭hose kids just battled, 鈥淛enkins said. 鈥淚t was tough. Everyone on our team played as hard as they could. They had some more lucky breaks than we did and things just went their way. But sometimes that鈥檚 just how baseball works.鈥�
Nevertheless, heading into the final series, Jenkin鈥檚 teammates were as confident as any team in the nation.
鈥淚 think we were all pretty confident,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淚 genuinely think that we had the better team.鈥�
And even today, people looking from the outside could imagine that the loss of that series could still sting. In some ways, it still does for Jenkins and his teammates. But he won鈥檛 let the result of last year affect the chemistry of this year鈥檚 ball club.
鈥淲e鈥檙e losing a lot of 鈥榖ig鈥� guys, but our team will still be solid,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to be tough for us to make it to the state championship this year, but I think a lot of guys that were on a team last year and were able to make it that far will be motivated.鈥�
Parallel to his motivation and desire to help his school capture a state title, Jenkins is also preparing for the competition at the next level. He鈥檚 been doing that since his freshman year of high school.
鈥淚 committed fairly early,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淩ight after my freshman year and didn鈥檛 have the attention I do now. Carolina had always been a dream school. I built a very good relationship with , who鈥檚 the head coach there now. Along with the baseball history of Carolina, the foundation there and the school. The education was another thing that sold me. Besides Duke, North Carolina is really the best educational school in the state. I tried to look at all the different aspects, and I just felt Carolina fit my needs.鈥�
Now, it鈥檚 easy for ordinary people to judge athletes based solely on their play. But when it comes to athletes like Jenkins, their work ethic is rarely appreciated as people don鈥檛 see what goes on behind the scenes. For Jenkins, that work ethic was instilled in him at a young age.听
鈥淚 think my work ethic is one thing that鈥檚 allowed me to be as successful as I am,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淚t definitely carries into the classroom. My family always had a rule when I was a kid. They used to say, 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 go practice baseball until you get your homework done.鈥� It was always one of those things when I got back from school; the first thing I did was get my homework done. To this day, that鈥檚 my first priority, and then it鈥檚 baseball鈥 don鈥檛 think if I didn鈥檛 have the work ethic in baseball that I did, I wouldn鈥檛 want to work or try to work as hard as I do in school.鈥�
Jenkins is, without a doubt, one of the hardest working prospects in the nation. He rarely takes a day off.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 remember the last time I didn鈥檛 hit,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淭he last time, I didn鈥檛 hit or take a day off. It鈥檚 every day. I can鈥檛 name someone that works harder than me. There are people out there that work extremely hard. [And] I think about that a lot. It comforts me when I think that I outworked everyone essentially in the world today that wants to take my spot.鈥�
Jenkins has found the perfect balance in his pursuit to be the best. And while being the best is essential to Jenkins, there is something more important to him: Growing the game and becoming a beacon of hope for younger athletes.听
鈥淎 lot of people, especially younger kids that play baseball, have started to look up to me,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淚t just means the world to me. To have some little kid that could possibly be in the same position as me or I could influence, that means everything to me.鈥�