West Allegheny senior Andrea Walker is headed for Ohio State on a basketball scholarship, which appeared to be an unlikely proposition three years ago when she entered high school as a seldom-used player for the Indians varsity.

Walker, a 6-foot-4 center, has really stepped up her game in recent years, however, to develop into one of the top talents in the WPIAL.

She was recently nominated for the 2006 McDonald's All-American High School team. If selected, Walker would play in the March 31 game at San Diego State University's Cox Arena.

Walker is averaging 17.6 points, 10 rebounds, five blocked shots, two assists and two steals per game. She signed a letter-of-intent with the Buckeyes program during the scholarship signing period last November.

"Her freshman year, she played sporadically," West Allegheny coach Beth Bayly said. "She was about 6-1 her freshman year so she's grown her last couple years. Ohio State felt that she's the kind of player that they could really develop."

Despite her stellar numbers in her senior season, it has not been quite good enough to get West Allegheny into the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs. The Indians (11-11, 5-8) were eliminated from playoff contention Monday after a 50-41 loss at Beaver Area. Walker was held to 11 points, due in part to foul trouble.

"She's physically strong on the inside," Bayly said. "Her younger years of high school she was just immature. The seriousness [toward basketball] wasn't there yet. This year, she is finally realizing how much her team relies on her and what her capabilities are. She's really focused this year and has worked really hard on her own game to help the rest of her team."

Walker has played AAU basketball in recent summers for the Rockers, an all-star caliber team of current WPIAL seniors. The team usually practiced at LaRoche College or Duquesne University. Some of her teammates last summer included Nikki Presto of Thomas Jefferson and Amy Johns of McKeesport, both high-scoring guards. Walker has been primarily used as a post player, which is where she is expected to contribute at Ohio State, one of the top programs in the Big Ten every season.

"She's an unselfish kind of player," Bayly said. "She's very good at passing to help break the press... And being 6-4, that's a given [when it comes to college recruiting interest]. That's something you can't coach. A lot of times when you are that big, you can't run. But she gets up and down the floor well and has nice hands. She catches just about everything that's thrown around her."

Last summer, Walker's AAU team competed in several high-profile tournaments nationally.

"I knew I had to keep working hard to get to the next level," Walker said. "I had to do a lot to improve my game to reach that level for a program like Ohio State that has really high standards."

She has 1,099 career points, the fifth player in West Allegheny girls' basketball history to surpass the 1,000-point plateau. She passed the 1,000-point mark when she scored 18 against Ambridge Jan. 23 when the Indians topped the host Bridgers, 42-34. Her younger sister, 6-1 freshman Michelle Walker, also scored 18 points that evening.

Andrea Walker also scored 27 points with 13 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead West Allegheny to a 64-55 win at home against Blackhawk last Thursday to avenge an overtime loss to the Cougars earlier in the season. Junior guard Tiffany Medwid also scored 20 points during the victory. The win over Blackhawk temporarily kept the Indians in the playoff race.

"She did what she needed to do to win that game for us," Bayly said. "We got some help from our guards, but she just dominated inside. She's faced a lot of double-teaming and physically gets beat up around the boards every game because there are always two or three people around her.

"She's done a good job of knowing when to throw the ball and when not to throw the ball. Sometimes, she'll relocate and come away from the hoop and she's starting to take the ball to the hoop, facing the basket more. She'll shoot those little jumpers inside of the paint which helps her [as a post-up player]."

"I don't let the double- and triple-teaming get to me," Walker said.

"It was exciting to beat Blackhawk. I got into foul trouble against them, so I didn't try to do anything risky. I knew I had to keep playing smart. The guards were making a lot of nice passes to me and they were really being smart with the ball and everything just came together."

Walker is looking forward to her career at Ohio State.

"I'm excited about the opportunity there, but I know I'm going to have to work a lot harder when I get there," she said.HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' BASKETBALL