Walker, Caldwell sign with ASU women’s basketball
Forward Eboni Walker and guard Sydnei Caldwell signed as expected Wednesday with Arizona State women’s basketball.
Walker, a 5-11 forward from Centennial High School in Las Vegas, now is up to a five-star rating by ESPN HoopGurlz. She is ranked No. 43 in the HoopGurlz 2019 class top 100.
She averaged 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds as a junior at Centennial, which went 29-3 and won a fourth consecutive Nevada state title. She was an all-state first team selection by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Walker’s club team, the Las Vegas Bulldogs (made up largely of her high school team), won the 17-under championship at the ASGR summer basketball playoff.
“From the first time I watched Eboni, I thought she was a perfect fit for us,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “Eboni is a smart, hardworking, versatile and tremendously talented forward, who only knows winning. She will give us scoring, rebounding and tenacious defense. Eboni truly understands what it means to be a great teammate because of her strong, supportive family and the championship culture she comes from.”
Caldwell is a 5-8 guard from New Jersey with elite defensive skills. She averaged 15.8 points, 3.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds as a junior at Gill St. Bernard’s High School and 19.6 points as a sophomore. She also plays AAU basketball for the New Jersey Sparks.
Caldwell’s father Mike was linebackers coach with the Arizona Cardinals in 2013-14 and now is assistant head coach/ linebackers coach with the New York Jets.
“When I got to coach Sydnei as an eighth grader at our camp I knew she was very special,” Turner Thorne said. “Sydnei is a strong, dynamic combo guard who can really score the basketball. She is going to fit beautifully with our uptempo team and our aggressive defensive system.”
No. 22 ASU (1-1) has four seniors — Kianna Ibis, Courtney Ekmark, Charnea Johnson-Chapman and Sophie Elenga — and could sign another player or two in the spring.
The Sun Devils also have a 2020 commitment from 6-3 post Keeli Burton, who plays at Eastlake High School in Sammamish, Wash., a Seattle suburb.