Von Walker Offered Scholarship

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA./GoPSUSports.com – Junior Von Walker (Mill Hall, Pa.) has made the most of his time as a run-on linebacker for the Penn State football team. That hard work has culminated in a scholarship for the 2015-16 academic year by head coach James Franklin this week.

“Von Walker is the example of everything that represents Penn State football,” Franklin said. “He is blue collar, hard-nosed, works his butt off day in and day out and always has positive energy at practice. He has improved as much as anybody on our team since we arrived. Make no mistake about it, I am not giving Von a scholarship, he has earned this full scholarship.”

After moving from running back to linebacker during 2014 spring practice, Walker appeared in 12 games last season and made his first career start versus Northwestern. He was also a major contributor on special teams, ranking third on the team with five special teams tackles, including four on kickoff coverage. Overall, Walker made 12 stops (five solo) and registered one tackle-for-loss in 2014.

In the 48-7 win over UMass, Walker made a career-high three tackles. In his first career start against the Wildcats, the Mill Hall, Pennsylvania native tied his personal mark with three tackles. He has also excelled in the classroom, earning Academic All-Big Ten honors last year.

As a freshman, Walker was an all-purpose player for the Nittany Lions, seeing time on offense, defense and special teams. He began the season as a running back, but was shifted to safety at mid-season. He returned six kickoffs for 99 yards and four punts for 19 yards in 2013.