Jada Walker is an honest, law-abiding young woman until she gets on the basketball court.

She then turns into a woman of steal.

But don’t call the police.

The sophomore guard at the University of Kentucky is second in the powerful Southeastern Conference with a rules permitting 2.4 steals per game, as of Feb. 11.

Walker is just one-tenth of a steal behind leader Ciaja Harbison of Vanderbilt at 2.5.

Starting all 22 games for the Wildcats, the 5-foot-7 former Richmonder is averaging 13.5 points (second on the team), with 71 rebounds and 72 assists.

The left-handed dynamo is hitting 45 percent from the floor, 34 percent from beyond the arc and 83 percent at the foul line.

Walker was born to play basketball. She is the daughter of AnnMarie Gilbert, a former NCAA scoring champ, and former Virginia Union sensation Jonathan “Jon” Walker, whose number is retired. In a Jan.18 “What’s Next” podcast interview, Walker acknowledged how much her parents taught her about basketball.

As a result, competition and dominance became “ingrained in my head,” she said.

Her fearlessness on the court also comes from “playing around boys my entire life,” she said, which further honed her toughness.

“I’ve had my nose broken, head beat in... bleeding, and I still keep running down the court,” she said. “It’s just that type of mindset. Keep going.”

Walker played locally at Highland Springs and Henrico high schools and one year at a private school in Washington, D.C.

There was little in the way of on-the-job training when Walker arrived last season in Lexington. Starting 22 of 31 games as a freshman, she averaged 10.4 points and made 47 steals, earning SEC All-Rookie honors.

Perhaps her best game a season ago came in the most adverse conditions. Having suffered a broken nose, she played with a plastic mask over her face in the first round of the SEC tournament against Mississippi State.

Despite her injury, she scored 21 points, helping Kentucky to victory.

AnnMarie Gilbert, following a brilliant run as coach at Virginia Union, is now the assistant women’s coach at Division I Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.

Between 2015 and 2020, Gilbert’s Pantherettes went 135-18 with three CIAA titles and five trips to the NCAAs.