Baylor guard Ja'Kobe Walter declares for 2024 NBA Draft

Baylor guard Ja’Kobe Walter has officially declared for the 2024 NBA Draft following a terrific freshman campaign at Baylor this past season.

NBA insider Shams Charania reported the news of Walter entering the draft, tweeting out: “Baylor freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter — a potential top-10 pick — tells @Stadium he is declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft.”

Walter led the Bears in scoring this past season with 14.5 points per game along with 34.1% shooting from the 3-point line. For the Bears, this now means both top scorers off the ’24 team, Walter and fifth-year transfer RayJ Dennis, are both gone, leaving new guys to take over as the leaders.

Jalen Bridges will have one more year if he’d like to use it, and guys like Jayden Nunn and Langston Love could also return to give Baylor a nice returning core alongside a freshman stud coming in, VJ Edgecombe, along with whichever transfers Scott Drew decides to add.

You can watch Walter officially declare and explain his decision to chase the NBA dream after just one year in college right here:

Baylor freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter — a potential top-10 pick — tells @Stadium he is declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft: “I think I’m the best shooter in the draft.”

On belief as an all-around scorer; modeling after Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards and Kawhi Leonard and much more: pic.twitter.com/oYlifKYMM2

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 15, 2024

Walter was an elite recruiting haul for Drew and the Bears out of high school. A 2023 recruit, Ja’Kobe Walter went to Link Year Prep in McKinney, Texas, where he was rated a five-star recruit by the On3 Industry Rankings. He was also ranked the No. 2 shooting guard and No. 2 player out of Texas for his cycle.

Baylor freshman Yves Missi also enters draft

Ja’Kobe Walter wasn’t the only Baylor rookie to enter the NBA Draft as Yves Missi officially declared for the 2024 NBA Draft last Wednesday evening, according to Jonathan Givony an NBA Draft analyst at ESPN.

The 6-foot-11, 235 pound center is projected to be a Top 20 overall pick in the draft. This year he averaged 10.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, while shooting 61.4% from the field. He also averaged 1.5 blocks per game.

One of the more highly decorated prospects in the country coming out of high school, Missi was rated as the No. 29 overall player in the country and a four-star prospect, according to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2023 cycle.

He grew up in Cameroon, but played for Prolific Prep in California in high school. He averaged 9.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. In December of 2022, Missi also guided Prolific Prep to the 2022 John Wall Holiday Invitational.