Walker Reacts to Verballing to Texas A&M

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Walker Reaction

By Matt Malatesta

In 2011, Westfield High School's Desmond "Tank" Jackson anchored the middle for the Mustang defense. Jackson, a national recruit, committed to the University of Texas and received some significant playing time as a freshman.

Last year, the man in the middle for Westfield was Anthony Smith, who signed with Texas Tech in February.

This year's space-eater from Westfield is Hardreck Walker, who also had offers from several BCS schools. The 6-foot-2 defensive tackle committed to Texas A&M Sunday evening, making the north Houston school the hub for interior defensive lineman.

"Texas A&M is going into the SEC and I feel like under coach Kevin Sumlin, the Aggies are going to do big things," he said. "I want to be a part of it."

During his high school career, Walker had to chase district-mates Trey Williams and Matt Davis, who were part of the 2012 class of Aggies.

"I didn't hear from them too much during the process, but I can't want to finally be on the same team as them," he said. "They are great players."

While Walker admits that he didn't know college football would be in his future until his sophomore year at Westfield, he feels blessed to be able to fulfill his dream of playing on the college stage.

For now, he's trying to lead Westfield to a district title and a deep playoff run in 2012. Westfield reached the regional finals a year ago, but was bounced out of the postseason by Dekaney and Trey Williams.

" I feel like all the pieces are in place, but we just need to become more of a team and get everybody's eyes on the prize," he said.