Skip to main content
Join

Why Walker Kessler transferred from North Carolina to Auburn

KJ Smithby:KJ Smith•08/03/21•

K30SMITH

Walker Kessler
Walker Kessler

Walker Kessler has the potential to be an extraordinary talent.

The McDonald’s All-American is a freak of nature, and it was a no-brainer that he was a five-star recruit out of Fairburn (Georgia) Woodward Academy.

Just by the numbers, Kessler stands at almost 7-feet-tall and rim-runs faster than most point guards.

From the 3-point line, he has the ability to take a guard to the basket, and you also can’t forget he can shoot threes.

With all that being said, many fans were confused when Walker Kessler came to North Carolina and averaged 4.4 points and 3.3 rebounds. In a disappointing season, Kessler decided to transfer from UNC to Auburn. At UNC, more was expected out of the big man, but there were a lot of obstacles in the way of letting that happen.

Limited playing time

UNC had four big men this year who would be starters for any other team in the country. UNC had Garrison Brooks, who was preseason ACC All American. Armando Bacot earned second-team All ACC honors, and Dayron Sharpe, who was the 29th pick of the NBA draft and was acquired by the Brooklyn Nets.

Kessler had a lot of talent in front of him, and what it came down to was a limited opportunity.

Carolina had too much firepower at the big position and only 40 minutes to display everyone’s talents.

Family matters for Walker Kessler

Fans across the country all have their beliefs in why Walker Kessler transferred. In his own words, he wanted to be close to family.

“The pandemic affected a lot of people in many different ways. For me, I just realized I wanted to be closer to home,” Kessler said.

Walker is very family-oriented. His family owns a beach home an hour away from Auburn that he visits every weekend. For this reason, it was a no-brainer for him to go to a school where his family could be within driving distance to all of his games.

Goals for the Season

The Auburn Tigers lost Sharrife Cooper to the NBA draft, but besides him, a lot of key players are returning.

Kessler believes they have enough firepower to win a national championship. Walker wants the fans of UNC to know there are no hard feelings between him and the coaches of UNC and that he hopes that they can cheer for him at Auburn the same way they did at UNC.