Walker works to return to full speed for UCF

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Some Key Points:

The guy Coach George O'Leary has said "could be the best athlete on the team" was forced to watch from the sideline as UCF played without him in the two biggest games of its football history. UCF hosted the first Conference USA title game on Dec. 3, then made its first bowl appearance at the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. Walker had his ACL surgery Dec. 9, but was able to travel with the team to Hawaii.

"Mike was a big part of our offense last season and he will be again this year," offensive coordinator Tim Salem said earlier this spring. "We are a young group there [at receiver] and he knows he is going to have to show a lot of leadership. The younger guys will grow, but senior guys like Mike and [quarterback] Steven [Moffett] have to step up.

"He's a great worker," UCF head trainer Jeff Allen said. "If you're going to come back from that kind of injury, you have to be. His work ethic [rehabbing] is exactly what you see on the field.

Courtesy of OrlandoSentinel.com - Kyle Hightower can be reached at khightower@orlandosentinel.com.