Salt Lake City's Keenyn Walker was the 47th player taken in the Major League Baseball Draft on Monday. The former Judge Memorial star, who has spent the past two seasons at Central Arizona College, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the supplemental first round.
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound outfielder had a .402 batting average and stole 65 bases this past season in helping Central Arizona reach the Junior College World Series championship game.
While in Colorado for last week's tournament, Walker discussed his future with the Grand Junction Sentinel — weighing his options between the draft and a recruiting commitment to continue his college career at Utah.
"The University of Utah would be a great experience with them going into the Pac-12 because we'd be playing Arizona State, Southern Cal and all of those powerhouses," Walker told the newspaper. "But pro ball is there and it's a chance to get paid to play a kid's sport, so if I get the money I want, I'll take it and start my career. It doesn't matter either way, because another year of school won't hurt."
Walker, who was also an accomplished football player at Judge, is a three-time baseball draftee. The Chicago Cubs took him in the 16th round out of high school and the Philadelphia Phillies drafted him in the 38th round last year.
email: dirk@desnews.com