Announcements that a student-athlete plans to return to a school for another season may seem rare, but in today’s world of college athletics, traditional norms are no more.
Illinois State sophomore Chase Walker, a First-Team Missouri Valley Conference selection, has announced on social media he plans to return to ISU next season. Walker, a 6-foot-9 forward from Columbus, Ohio, who tied for the team lead in scoring at 14.8 points per game, was widely presumed to be entering the transfer portal to pursue opportunities to play elsewhere for his remaining two years of eligibility.
Walker’s announcement came three days after he posted a photo on social media of him receiving a 2025 GMC Sierra from Barker Motor Company of Bloomington.
"They said I needed a ride that matches my game," Walker said in the post.
Name, Image, Likeness [NIL] rules which allow student-athletes to secure endorsements have radically changed college athletics since taking effect in 2021.
ISU athletics director Jeri Beggs said in an interview last week that NIL has created uncertainty for each of its sports programs, but especially the men’s basketball team that has three top sophomores [Walker, Johnny Kinziger and Ty Pence] who could likely entertain offers to other schools that they could transfer to immediately.
“Success means being able to hang onto your good players,” Beggs said.
The Redbird men’s basketball team has secured its first postseason berth since 2017. ISU will play in the College Basketball Invitational on Saturday against Presbyterian College.
