One in a series on top players in the WPIAL and City League.

All-everything in baseball and all-section in basketball. In football, he was one of the top receivers and defensive backs in the WPIAL last year.

Pine-Richland's Neil Walker, who caught 63 passes for 1, 116 yards as a wide receiver last season, has taken over quarterback in 2003. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette)

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Yes, Neil Walker is all that. But his act isn't over yet. For his next trick, Walker will turn himself into a ... quarterback?

Instead of catching passes for Pine-Richland's football team, Walker will throw them this year. And he apparently has caught on to this quarterback thing .

"I think he has a Division I college arm," said Kevin Rock, Pine-Richland's offensive coordinator.

But really, what else would you expect from Walker? As three-sport athletes go in the WPIAL, Walker is not just in a class by himself. He has his own school.

Walker, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior, is considered one of the best high school baseball players in the country. A switch-hitting catcher, he was selected to play on the U.S. Junior National team at the Junior Pan Am Games this summer. He's also adept at basketball, averaging 16 points a game last year, and his football prowess is well-known in WPIAL circles. That's why he was the Post-Gazette's co-Male Athlete of the Year for the 2002-03 school year along with Sto-Rox's Adam DiMichele.

"I think maybe the only thing he doesn't do is get doughnuts for the coaches in the morning," Pine-Richland football coach Clair Altemus said.

Now Walker is adding to his legacy with this quarterback thing. Who said you can't teach an old dog a new trick? Walker will take over for Kevin McCabe, who is a quarterback at the University of Virginia.

"With catches and running back kicks, he would touch the ball at the most 15 times a game last year," Altemus said. "I'm not going to take the best kid we have and let him touch the ball only 15 times a game. Now we have him in a place where he's going to touch it every time. He brings a totally different dimension to the game that we didn't have with Kevin."

Walker, who played one game as a quarterback as a sophomore, welcomed the position switch.

"This is my senior year. I'd like to take control of things and be responsible for everything," said Walker, who caught 63 passes for 1,116 yards last season and was a member of the Post-Gazette Fabulous 22.

Altemus has heard critics of Walker's switch. He laughs at them. In the spring, Pine-Richland's football players have "Ram Olympics," an event with 10 football-related events. A tire toss and 40-yard dash are part of the competition, as is a football throw. A number of Pine-Richland parents were on hand for the football throw. Their jaws dropped at Walker's effort.

"He waited until everyone else was finished and then he threw," Altemus said. "He threw the dang thing 75 yards -- in the air. That quieted a lot of speculation about why I moved him to quarterback."

Pine-Richland has installed the option and some quarterback draws into its offense.

"He doesn't have the classic release for football. He throws it right by his ear, like a catcher is supposed to," Altemus said.

Walker said, "I'm not a pocket passer. I can do three-step drops, but five- and seven-step drops, that's just not me. I like doing things on the move."

But don't ask exactly how fast Walker can move. No one knows. He doesn't have blazing speed, but apparently he moves well enough to be successful.

"I never time my kids in the 40," Altemus said. "First of all, you know every coach fudges the times of their kids. Then there are so many ways to time a kid. All I know is a football coach from Georgia Tech was in here this spring. He wanted to know how fast Neil was. I put in a tape of Neil for the coach. After about five plays, he said, 'We'll offer him a full ride right now.' "

Georgia Tech and Toledo have offered Walker scholarships for football. But Walker's No. 1 sport is baseball. Besides making the U.S. Junior National team, he was selected a third-team All-American by the National Baseball Coaches Association. He was one of only five high school juniors on the first three teams. He also has been selected to play in an all-star game with the best players in the country Saturday in Fort Myers, Fla.

Walker will make an official visit to Clemson at the end of this month for baseball. Georgia, LSU and Arizona State also are recruiting him for baseball. He most likely will sign with a college for baseball in the NCAA's week-long early signing period in November.

But there is also the major-league baseball draft in June. Walker is projected to be taken in the top five rounds. Some believe he might go in the first two rounds. Whether he goes to college will depend on where he is taken in the draft.

"I feel like I put myself in a pretty good position for next year's draft, but you can't ever predict that," Walker said.

Altemus said, "I don't profess to be an expert about baseball. But you're talking about a 6-3, 205-pound, switch-hitting catcher who can go yard from either side of the plate. He has to be a first- or second-round pick. Then you're talking a lot of money."

But for now, Walker is talking about big things for Pine-Richland football.

"Our goal last year was to just get to Heinz Field [for the WPIAL Class AAA championship]," said Walker, who was part of a team that lost to Hopewell in the title game. "It was almost like we were satisfied to just get there. We're not thinking about Heinz Field this year. We're thinking about getting to Hershey [for the PIAA championship]."