When Megan Walker thinks of her next school, the first word that comes to mind is "championships."
The No. 1 prospect in the nation for three years running announced Thursday that she is signing a national letter of intent to Connecticut, the national champion for four years running.
"It's a winning program," she said. "I'll be able to accomplish all my dreams."
A 6-foot-1 shooting guard, Walker has collected trophies and broken records all over the globe during her time in high school. She's the reigning Gatorade player of the year in Virginia. She is a two-time state champion at Monacan (Richmond, Virginia). She is the USA Basketball national 3x3 champion. And she won a gold medal with USA Basketball at the FIBA Americas U18 championship.
Expect her to make an immediate mark at the college level, too. Walker has that special knack for making good things happen when she's on the court. It helps, of course, that she has a feathery touch on her jump shot, a reliable delivery off the dribble and the ability to find a teammate in a jam. She has the skill to sink jumpers from beyond the arc and the size to post up her defender.
"Megan Walker is one of the most physically gifted basketball players I've ever seen," Monacan coach Larry Starr said. "Once she started being ranked so high, she did not get complacent but continued to work hard to maintain that ranking. It's important to Megan to show people she isn't satisfied where she is, but she always strives for improvement."
Walker chose Connecticut over Notre Dame and Texas.
The decision didn't come easily. Walker said a lot of factors led her to Storrs -- the campus (she has already visited a handful of times), the players (she's especially excited to play alongside Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams), the coaches and the pipeline to success after college. Walker, who plans to major in either business or criminology, said she's excited to play for Geno Auriemma.
"He develops the best players," said Walker, who averaged 21.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 1.9 assists as a junior at Monacan. "I'm hoping to learn a lot from him."
Walker joins a class at Connecticut that includes three other top-40 recruits: Mikayla Coombs, a 5-10 guard ranked 14th in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100; Lexi Gordon, a 5-11 wing ranked 29th; and Andra Espinoza-Hunter, a 5-10 wing ranked 37th.
With the addition of Walker, the UConn class is expected to be ranked No. 1 when the final class rankings are released next week. The Huskies' class was ranked third -- behind Louisville and Stanford -- coming into the early signing period.
It would be the first time since 2012 that the No. 1 class resides in Connecticut. That 2012 group featured a few names you may be familiar with: Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck.
Walker is the fourth No. 1 prospect in the past seven years to choose UConn. She joins Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (2011), Stewart (2012) and Katie Lou Samuelson (2015). Walker will be greeted by an elite group of backcourt players when she arrives in Storrs. UConn is expected to feature Samuelson, Nurse, Williams and Crystal Dangerfield on the perimeter when Walker arrives next fall.
"We're just excited about what the possibilities are for her," said dad Keith Walker. "Megan hopes to carry on the winning tradition.
"It's been a long process. We've enjoyed it. Now it's time now to move on to the next chapter."
But first, Megan Walker has her heart set on winning another state title at Monacan.
"We're two-time state champs," she said. "We're trying to make that three-time state champs."
It all goes back to the championships.