Walter is a tremendous 2 sport star at the prestigious Sidwell Friends School, in NW Washington, DC. He has over 35 D1 football offers ranging from IVY's to every D1 Power 5 School. Walter recently trimmed his list to ten schools which are: Duke, Maryland, Michigan, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Stanford, Virginia and Yale. Before school begins at Sidwell on September 4th, Walter will trim his list to 5-6 schools. Currently, Walter is ranked at # 518 in the nation. However, he has just begun to scratch the surface of his upside/potential.
Last season I got my first look at Walter, but it was on the hardwood. Walter was the starting PF/C on a very good Sidwell basketball team which plays in the very tough MAC Conference. Walter stood out immediately as a very high motor, tough & intense, high IQ glue player and leader. He understood his basketball identity and played it to perfection. Walter set screens, recovered many 50/50 ball, rebounded, scored in close and facilitated at a high level. Walter makes winning plays and rarely makes mistakes. The apple does not fall far from the tree as his Grandfather, Walter Victor Rouse was an all star basketball player at Loyola University of Chicago and best remembered for the winning basket as time expired in the 1963 NCAA Championship game.
During the 5 Sidwell Friends basketball games I attended, Walter was always engaged and connected with his teammates, encouraging and leading them on the court or from the sidelines. It was very apparent that Walter possessed huge potential for football. He possessed the coveted IT factor, and it was easy to assess his very high character. When challenged, he will rise up and win on and off the basketball court and gridiron. After the Sidwell basketball season, Walter focused on football. He worked on his strength and conditioning with Coach Cho (Sidwell). Coach Vernon (SPG) and Coach Myron Flowers for Speed and Agility. Walter adds, "Squats, Bench Press and PSI Resistance have really helped in establishing my base. I am continually gaining strength and becoming more flexible. I will be adding power cleans to my workouts very soon. Additionally, I train with Offensive Line Skill & Development Coach Sudan Ellington of Big Skills Academy. We work on various formations and sets for run and passing downs. Coach Sudan constantly helps and tutors me with technique, fundamentals, hand placement and footwork. I am continuing to improve, but I am not close to where I want to get."
Part of the IT factor is understanding your potential, how to achieve it and achieving it. Walter possesses great determination, a superb work ethic, focus and intelligence to reaching his maximum in athletics, academics and life. This season Walter could crack the top 250 rankings and I am convinced Walter will continue to improve and become one of the Left Tackles in college football. He is very confident, yet a humble young man and mature way beyond his years. Walter adds. " I take academics very seriously and in college, I will study Biology and be on the pre-med track. After my college career has concluded, I want to play in the NFL and later return to medical school."
During June of this year, Sidwell Friends participated in the Capitol Hoops Summer League at DeMatha. Walter was in excellent shape and it was very evident he gained strength and lean muscle. All his major muscle groups were bigger and Walter was more explosive and agile on the basketball court. Walter says he has played basketball since his nurf ball days. In his freshmen year of 2015, Walter was 6-0/220, played varsity football at LG and RG. The Quakers won the DC State Football Class A Title with a win over DCIAA Champion Eastern High School. Due to the length of the football season, Walter got a late start to basketball. He started on an excellent JV team, which included current rising seniors, 6-5 Wing Elijah Williams, PG Dean Mazlish and Jack & Nick Lewis who are identical twins and 6-3.5 Wings. Four of the 5 players just mentioned are protected to start, with fellow rising senior, 6-1 PG/CG, Jason Gibson.
As a sophomore Walter grew to 6-3/230 and played OT on the Sidwell Offensive Line and on the Defensive Line at DT/DE. In basketball, he received very good playing time. The 2016-17 Sidwell team was loaded with talent, but suffered numerous injuries. Star 6-5 G, Jelani Williams suffered a season ending ACL injury in the first few weeks of the season. Jelani will play his 1st season of college basketball this year at Penn and he is a phenomenal player who attended most of Sidwell games in the CHSL@DeMatha. Additionally, 6-10 F Ace Stallings missed part of the season. Despite losing 2 key D1 starters, the Quakers finished the season with an amazing 23-6 record. Saddiq Bey (2018,Villanova), Jason Gibson (2019) and 6-7 F Ross Young (2017) were very key starters. That season, Sidwell split the two regular season with an excellent Maret team which featured 6-11 Luka Garza (Iowa), Coby Davis (Wake Forest, football starting DB), 6-8 EJ Jarvis (2019, Yale) and Elijah Bowens (Christopher Newport). In the MAC Championship game the Quakers captured the MAC Title with a their second win over Maret.
Sidwell Friends has an amazing basketball Coaching Staff which includes 10 year Head Coach Eric Singletary who has built Sidwell into a DC DMV power, Associate Head coach Charles Rodgers and top Assistant Coach Anthony Greene. Walter says, "We will be very good this season and proved ourselves in the CHSL@DeMatha and the Hoop Group Team Camp where Sidwell won the Championship." In my way too early preseason DC DMV Top 30, basketball team rankings, Sidwell will be in the 14-16 range. Other MAC teams ranked will include Flint Hill, Maret, St. Andrews Episcopal, and possibly The Potomac School. Last season Walter grew to 6-5/270 in football and played LT on offense and DT/DE. Walter adds, "In previous seasons, I preferred defense. I could get tackles, sacks and make a more visual impact plays of the game. However, I have grown to appreciate playing LT, which is one of the most important positions on the field. I find great achievement in pancaking my man, creating a large hole for our RBs and protecting our QBs blind side on pass protection. A position to which I am fully committed. Yet, nothing beats a team win. Coaches say he has “freakish numbers” and the body to play LT." Walter is very impressive and gifted physically, and he has the perfect symmetry to play on the OL. He has great size and power in his quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves. Walter has broad shoulders and very good lat and arm development. His chest gets bigger and more powerful each time I see him. Walter now stands at 6-6/290 and appears to still be growing in height.
In July, Walter visited Ohio Sate, Stanford, Penn State and Duke in just seven days. Walter does not expect any more visits until after the football season. Sidwell will begin preseason practice on August 16 and Walter adds, "While I believe hard work pays off I would not be where I am today in this process without the guidance and leadership of Head Coach John Simon. I thank him for seeing my potential very early and believing that I could play football at a high-level" I think we will have a very good team this year, but we will be young. I will take on a more intense leadership role and mentor the up and coming players. The Quakers football season could end in early November, but may be extended depending on the playoffs. Walter adds, " When our season has concluded, I will take one week off to let my body recover for basketball season. After which, I will be ready to play, but I will probably not hit full stride until another 2 weeks.” Walter will be a great representative to the college/university he chooses to attend. He will excel in the classroom, community and football field. This season I will be out to see Walter in football and basketball. He is a very special young man and I wish Walter the best.