It’s going to be a while until Long Island sees another basketball talent like Delaney Walters.
The Centereach-born star has been playing varsity at her public school since seventh grade, where she put up surreal numbers — and shattered a record that went untouched for years — on the court surrounded by girls much older.
“I realized then that I could really do this, and the age I am at doesn’t matter,” Walters told The Post.
“What just matters is how skilled I am and the work I put in,” the 14-year-old, 5-foot-6 guard added.
Two years after her varsity debut, the youth prodigy is ready for a new environment and challenge as a freshman at St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset, as Walters shoots to put the Gaels on the high road.
“My goal is to try to get the state championship — and to make a name for myself,” she said after a ninth-grade orientation at the Catholic academy.
“To be seen by other colleges or schools and just be the best I could possibly be on the court. … I absolutely want to go pro one day.”
Crossover to greatness
The dead-eye shooter broke Centereach’s record for 3-pointers in a season “from around decades back” with 44 in seventh grade, when she first learned to trust her shot.
“That’s when I began with long-range 3s. I would just shoot it and it would go in,” said Walters, likely to finish with six varsity seasons to her credit.
“I was like, ‘Wow, I guess I could really do this.’ And I just started shooting from outside, like very far out.”
Walters, who is already being invited to college camps, proved that her hot hand was anything but a lucky streak after putting up an eighth-grade season that most college athletes would envy.
She averaged 18 points a game and shattered her own season 3s mark with an exclamation point, draining 66 shots from deep and earning first-team all-conference honors.
No. 10, who was on pace to be the Cougars’ all-time leading scorer, is already getting the green light from St. Mary’s coaches to fire the ball as she sees fit in summer training camps.
“That was a little bit of an eye-opener for me,” she said of her early jaw-dropping numbers. “It gave me more confidence that I definitely needed.”
Full-court press
Success is anything but accidental for Walters, said her lifelong trainer, Jerry Powell — who has enhanced the games of LeBron James and other NBA greats like Paul George.
“She has the right approach and the right attitude,” Powell told The Post, adding how impressed he is that Walters, by choice, completely stays off her phone during sessions.
“She’s very cerebral. She picks up quick, and that’s why the sky is the limit. … She’s going to be a great one,” he added of the teen who works out five days a week.
Like Walters herself acknowledged, he also observed her game reaching a significantly deeper level between the seventh and eighth grades.
“Sometimes when kids have an early success, they take their foot off the gas,” he said. “With Delaney, she makes basketball the main thing. When you do that at a young age, you can’t help but be successful.”
The top-tier trainer also said playing in a high-caliber environment like the one at St. Mary’s will serve as iron sharpening iron to push Walters toward the WNBA dream — which she said would ideally come by way of a major basketball school like Duke or North Carolina.
She’s a fan of both teams, and nobody really knows why.
“I was told it was crazy when I was wearing a Duke hoodie and a UNC hat,” she said. “Deep down, I think my heart wants to go to Duke, though.”
Afterward, her dream draft would be to the Minnesota Lynx, as Walters aspires to be like guard Courtney Williams.
“She’s super fast, and she’s just so much energy,” Walters said. “I really want to be like that.”
Naturally, the Long Island teenager has also sought inspiration from Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
However, she doesn’t model her shooting after the NBA champ.
“I kind of just want to have my own shot,” Walters said, “so people could look up to mine.”
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