Photo provided
Will Walker (above) is a Krueger Middle School and Michigan City High School alumnus who played professional basketball. Walker credited his family and the community of Michigan City with providing a strong foundation for him, and he now is returning the favor as an assistant coach on the high school’s boys basketball team.
Michigan City’s Walker raised by, gives back to hometown
By Brikiera Franklin
Staff Writer
MICHIGAN CITY – The common saying is that it takes a village to raise a child.
For Will Walker, that was definitely the case. Walker was raised by parents, teachers and coaches who taught him good values, especially the importance of education.
“My parents would say it took a community to raise me,” Walker said.
Even though Walker’s parents knew he liked basketball, nothing came before grades.
Walker said this was especially true because his mother, Kathy Walker, was a teacher at Michigan City High School.
When he was an eighth grader at Krueger Middle School, he had a ‘D’ on his report card. During an eighth grade basketball scrimmage, his father, James Walker, pulled him off the court.
The teachers understood where Walker’s parents were coming from, so they made sure his grades were the top priority before basketball.
That made Walker believe that not only should his game be good, his grades should be good.
“Education was one of the top priorities,” Kathy Walker said.
Walker was an active kid. He and his family’s lives revolved around activities like church, basketball, football and volleyball, among others.
“It was a very open, fun, Christian household,” Walker said.
Photo provided
The Walker family (from left, Kathy Walker, Will Walker, Kori Walker, James Walker) is a tight-knit unit which Will Walker credited with motivating him to succeed.
“He was always bouncing a ball,” she said.
Although Walker was involved in a lot of things, basketball was his main passion. His mother knew he’d be good at the sport from a very young age.
Not only did basketball run in Walker’s family, his parents were friends with local coaching legends Rick Commers and Earl Cunningham.
“I just always grew up around the game,” Walker said. “It’s part of who I was from birth.”
Walker and his friend, Malachi Mitchell, developed their game by going against grown men when they were barely teenagers at the famous Pullman Park in Michigan City.
“I grew up at the park, 12, 13 years old, begging to get on the park court,” Walker recalled. “Me and Malachi being on the court all day in the summertime just running the court, like ‘Who got next, come on.’”
Walker and Mitchell were inseparable on the court. They knew what each other wanted and they could deliver each time.
“I’m right there on the wing, I’m right there on (Mitchell’s) hip pocket,” Walker said. “He misses a layup, I’m there to clean it up. He’s going to the basket, I’m there for his drop-off. I know where he wants me to be, and I can play off of it.”
Walker was not only Mitchell’s partner in high school, he also was an achiever himself. He averaged a double-double in the Duneland Athletic Conference, one of the toughest conferences in Indiana basketball.
He even started as a center for the Michigan City Wolves as a sophomore.
“I don’t think it got harder, it’s just I got more focused,” Walker said.
Even though he excelled, he didn’t get the recognition from colleges he thought he deserved. Some Division I schools were interested in him, but they all wanted him to redshirt in his freshman year.
For Walker, that wasn’t an option, but his choices were limited. He had it narrowed down to two universities: Indiana Wesleyan and Bethel. Both are NAIA schools and were playing each other in a Mid-Central College Conference (now Crossroads League) semifinal at the time.
“I told my parents, ‘Whoever called first, that’s where I’m going,’” Walker said “(The schools) literally called 10 minutes apart. (Bethel assistant coach) Rico Swanson called me, and he hung up the phone, and then about three minutes after Rico hung up the phone and I told Bethel, ‘I’m going to Bethel,’ then Indiana Wesleyan called.”
Walker told Indiana Wesleyan he had already chosen Bethel. Even though Walker got accepted into Bethel, he believed he deserved to be at a Division I school.
Walker begged Bethel head coach Mike Lightfoot for a 24-hour swipe card to the gym. He always was willing to put in the work for basketball, and wanted to prove he didn’t belong at Bethel.
“My outlet was basketball,” Walker said. “Whenever anything wasn’t going how I wanted it to go, or I was in my feelings or anything else – basketball.”
Walker’s attitude changed as a sophomore. He and his teammates went to war together, and they became what they called the “band of brothers.” This turned Walker from having a chip on his shoulder to being excited about playing at Bethel.
“Those guys trusted me, pretty much telling me, ‘You’re our guy, we need you to lead and we’re gonna help you get to where you need to go,’” Walker said.
The team went on a mission trip to Ecuador in the summer after his sophomore year. Though Walker had a chance to transfer to Division I Baylor University, he knew his bond at Bethel was unmatched.
“When I came back from that trip, that’s when we really started to dig into something real good,” he said.
To elevate his game, Walker began to work out with Luke Harangody, a starting forward at Notre Dame University.
“You’re talking about a D-I, high-level player that I was getting to work out with everyday,” Walker said. “That really helped push my level.”
Photo by Peter Holgersson, provided by Will Walker
Will Walker (center) runs onto the court to fanfare while playing for the Norrkoping Dolphins in Sweden. Walker’s professional career included two championships, an all-star game MVP award and being named the champion of a dunk contest.
He also did well in track and field. So well, that he was the 2009 National Christian College Athletic Association high jump champion.
Bethel’s men’s basketball team won the 2007 NCCAA Championship. In 2009, Walker was named the NAIA National Player of the Year.
His ability to do it all on court led him to this achievement.
“My game has always been versatile,” he said. “I’ve always been (a) player that can do whatever needs to be done, whether it’s shoot, post up, rebound (or) defend. I’m perfectly OK playing a role, because I’ve always been a team-player first.”
This mindset helped him do really well in European professional basketball.
Walker said that European basketball is different from American hoops, because the European game is more focused on the whole team. This was an easy transition for him.
A hard adjustment Walker had to make was living in another country, and getting used to the different cultures and loneliness.
He started to become depressed, and went to counseling to be well.
“I was only practicing three hours a day,” he explained. “(I had) 21 other hours to just sit here and stare at the wall. What am I supposed to do with all the rest of this time?”
Walker always pushed himself despite his struggles, and ended up succeeding in the pros. He played in six countries in nine years – Australia, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Sweden.
He made it to three league finals, winning one each in Slovakia and Sweden. He also was named the champion of a dunk contest and was an all-star game MVP. In that game, he came out with 28 points and 12 dunks.
“I was like, ‘I never dunked this much in a game, ever,’” Walker said. ”It was exhausting.”
Part of what made Walker so good was his fearless attitude, which he learned from his days at Pullman Park.
“When it came time at the end of the game, when you know you’re about to get double-teamed, you go up for a shot and they feel like they gotta foul you,” Walker explained. “In my mind, it’s gonna happen anyway. I’m looking at the basket (like), ‘Do whatever you wanna do to me, I’m about to get these two points and we’ll figure out everything else afterward.’”
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Will Walker (second from left) coaches up a player (left) on the Michigan City boys basketball team while head coach Tom Wells (right) looks on.
On Dec. 17, 2017, Walker retired. It was hard for him to walk away from such a passion.
He returned to Michigan City and started working at a steel mill.
He also began volunteering for the Love the Game camp, which is run by Michigan City High School alumnus Jarrod Jones and Brawley Chisholm, of the Harlem Globetrotters. The camp teaches tough basketball skills to upcoming stars.
“We all do it together,” Walker said. “It’s something that we push. It’s something that we believe in.”
In 2019 he became a varsity assistant boys basketball coach at Michigan City High School. He worked alongside his friend, Antonio “Bud” Hurt, under head coach Tom Wells.
Walker is glad to give back to the youth.
“I know I’ve got a ton of knowledge to give to whoever wants to listen to it,” he said with a laugh.
One player who has benefited from his coaching is sophomore player Andrew Vicari.
“He truly cares about us,” Vicari said. “He isn’t ever doing this for himself. He’s just honestly a great role model, and as a former pro he’s someone we are all inspired to be like one day.”
Walker’s success made his mother proud.
“He excelled at every level, and I couldn’t ask for anything more,” she said.
Walker knows he couldn’t have done it without her and all of Michigan City.
“It was definitely bigger than me,” he said.
Walker is far from finished, and still has wisdom to share with others.
“Enjoy the moments,” he said. “Everybody around you will remember your accolades and everything else, but you remember the process. All the moments that stick out to you were along the way leading up to the prize.”