Iowa Baseball lands Houston LHP Bryson Walker
The Iowa Baseball team continues to make some moves in the transfer portal and the latest is a by-product of the Hawkeyes recent addition of pitching coach Sean Kenny to the coaching staff. On Thursday evening, Houston left-handed pitcher Bryson Walker announced that he will transfer to Iowa and use his final year of eligibility with the Hawkeyes. Walker committed to Iowa over a final four that included, Louisiana-Lafayette, Troy and a return to Houston.
“The development side of things made me really pull the trigger on Iowa,” Walker told HawkeyeReport. “Look at guys like Obermueller who doesn’t have the standard pitching frame, but is still just as dominant as any pitcher in the nation. I’ve seen in past years some top tier arms come out of Iowa and I am excited to be a part of a program that sends talent to the next level every year.”
This past season, as a senior at Houston, Bryson opted to use a redshirt year, meaning that he would be able to use his final year of eligibility during the 2025 season, rather than the 2024 season. He came to that decision after talking with his pitching coach Sean Kenny, who spent last season on the Cougars coaching staff.
“Prior to the start of the season I met with Coach Kenny…With it being my last year of eligibility I decided that it would be much better to develop into the pitcher that Coach Kenny wants and pitch for him the following year. With the lack of innings thrown in previous years under a different pitching coach the fear was I wouldn’t throw a sufficient amount of innings,” said Walker. “At first I was a bit weary about taking the year off, but my doubts were silenced after the first few weeks. Coach Kenny didn’t miss a single pitch thrown by me in either bullpens or simulated outings and was set on developing me into the best player possible.”
Bryson is currently spending his summer pitching for the Brazos Valley Bombers in the Texas Collegiate League. Over four starts, Walker has posted a 0.69 ERA in 26.0 innings, including 40 strikeouts to just eight walks. Opponents are batting just .116 against him and are averaging 0.38 hits per inning. He was recently named Texas Collegiate League Pitcher of the Week.
“My whole goal this summer is to compete, compete and compete. Without playing this spring I have to get back into the “game time” mindset and I feel like I’ve accomplished that goal so far,” said Walker. “The summer has started off fantastic. I’ve had 4 starts, going 5,6,7 and 8 innings in each of the starts…I currently lead the league in ERA, strikeouts, WHIP, opponent batting average and SO/9.”
In two seasons with the Houston Baseball program, Walker appeared in 11 games with a 5.11 ERA over 12.1 innings. During the 2023 season, he allowed three earned runs over 6.0 innings in four appearances during AAC play.
Out of Jersey Village, Texas, Bryson started his college career at Incarnate Word. He spent one year with the Cardinals, appearing in seven games, with three starts. Walker posted a 7.47 ERA over 15.2 innings, including 13 strikeouts to 11 walks.
Q: What pitches do you have in your arsenal? What pitch do you consider to be your best?
WALKER: My fastball will range from 90-93, curveball is 75-77, slider is 80-82, changeup is 83-85. I think the slider is my best pitch. I spent the entire spring developing it and it’s turned into a major weapon in my pitch arsenal that I trust to throw in any count. As a pitcher, you are never going to have every single pitch working on a day to day basis. Having multiple good pitches in an arsenal makes things a lot easier when figuring out which pitches work on a given day.
Q: Talk through your recruitment in the portal. How did your talks with the coaching staff go?
WALKER: Through the recruiting process I mainly talked with Coach Sutherland. It was pretty straightforward with the coaches. I felt a sense of value and honesty talking to them, which is huge in the recruiting process. Every coach explained the importance of the University of Iowa to them and the school itself. That really showed me how special it is to put on the Hawkeye uniform. It is more than just a jersey, it’s the culture of the school that’s on your back and it’s going to be a privilege to be able to wear that uniform come baseball season.
Q: What stood out about the Iowa Baseball program that made them a clear choice over other schools?
WALKER: I’ve seen in past years some top tier arms come out of Iowa and I am excited to be a part of a program that sends talent to the next level every year. Along with the development side of things, the overall atmosphere of Iowa really set it in stone. It’s going to be a real college experience which is exciting coming from a school like Houston which is more of a commuter college.
Q: What other offers did you have after entering the portal? Any other schools that you seriously considered?
WALKER: As soon as I hit the portal I had a number of schools reach out ranging from SEC schools to the Southland Conference. As the recruiting process narrowed down, I was deciding between Iowa, University of Louisiana Lafayette, Troy University, and returning back to Houston. Ultimately, I felt that Iowa was going to be the best decision for me to continue my baseball career and put myself in the best position to continue my baseball career after college.
Q: Where does the coaching staff see you fitting in with the pitching staff? What role do they see you filling?
WALKER: After talks with the coaching staff, they value my veteran background being an older guy on the team. Having experience at this level is huge when it comes to college baseball. It’s hard to say what role they see me fitting in this year. Every single role has to be earned every year. I’ve pretty much played every single role in my college experience from starter to closer. I don’t have a specific role I am shooting for, in my eyes every role is just as important, whether that be a starter or a one inning guy. In this game every single pitch matters and every single role matters. I’m going to compete all fall and spring and let the chips fall in whatever role the coaches feel I fit the best and I’m going to fit into that role to the best of my ability.
Q: What is your relationship like with Coach Sean Kenny? Why did you decide to follow him to Iowa?
WALKER: My relationship with Coach Kenny is amazing. I spent all spring working with him and trust him 100%. Having a good relationship with the coaching staff is a big piece in success within a team. Trust is a two-way street and with Coach Kenny he trusts each guy just as much as they trust him. I would have no problem going to war if I knew that guy was leading the charge. We spent all spring together developing my pitch arsenal and tweaking minor things in my mechanics.
I’ve had 3 different pitching coaches in my college career and he is by far the most developmental coach I’ve had. He cares about every single player on the team and supports them. He is was the driving force in my development this past year and I can’t wait to continue building off everything we worked on this past year. Being able to continue the developmental process with him this year at Iowa is huge for me. Every pitching coach wants different things in their pitchers, so continuing my development with Coach Kenny is huge to continue progress in the right direction.
