Ex-Hog Walker back in coaching

Former Arkansas basketball players Darrell Walker, left, and Pat Bradley greet each other prior to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet Friday, March 4, 2016, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
Former Arkansas basketball players Darrell Walker, left, and Pat Bradley greet each other prior to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet Friday, March 4, 2016, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.

Darrell Walker, the former Arkansas All-American guard who played and coached in the NBA for more than 20 years, is back in the college game.

Walker, 55, was hired Wednesday as the men's basketball coach at Clark Atlanta University, an NCAA Division II school and historically black college in Atlanta.

It's the first time Walker has been associated with a college team since his senior season with the Razorbacks in 1982-83.

"I'm excited to get back in the gym," said Walker, whose last coaching job was as a New York Knicks assistant two years ago. "I've missed it.

"At the end of the day, I want to coach. Atlanta is a great city, and I have a lot of friends down here. It's a really good situation."

Walker's resume includes being the head coach of the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards and winning an NBA championship as a player with Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls in 1993. He said he's not concerned about the perception he's overqualified to be at Clark Atlanta.

"Clark Atlanta is going to get 100 percent from me," Walker said. "This is a school that's giving me an opportunity.

"They wanted me, and I wanted them."

Walker completed his human resources degree at Arkansas in 2012 when he was on the Knicks' staff so he'd be able to coach in college.

"Things work out for a reason," he said. "I'm ecstatic about having this job.

"This is a great opportunity for me to mentor young guys and coach at the same time."

Walker, a Chicago native who has made Little Rock his offseason home for many years, has been a head coach in the WNBA with the Washington Mystics and CBA with the Rockford (Ill.) Lightning as well as the NBA. He played 10 seasons with the Knicks, Denver Nuggets, Washington Bullets, Detroit Pistons and Bulls.

Walker, the 12th overall pick in the 1983 NBA Draft by the Knicks, was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 and into the UA Sports Hall of Honor in 2008. His wife, Lisa, a Little Rock native who was a sprinter at Arkansas, also is in the UA Sports Hall of Honor.

Clark Atlanta Athletic Director Lin Dawson hired Walker after dismissing Tony LaMarr, who had a three-year record of 31-53.

"It was really refreshing to talk to an AD that wasn't concerned that I'd never coached in college or recruited before," Walker said. "Now I've got AAU and high school coaches blowing up my phone telling me, 'I've got a player you need to look at.'

"It's not going to be a problem for me getting players."

Walker said anyone who believes he'll have trouble riding on buses as a college coach after flying on chartered aircraft in the NBA forgot about his CBA stint.

"Not only was I riding buses everywhere in the CBA, but I was still getting paid by the Raptors while I was doing it," Walker said. "I didn't need that job with Rockford, but I took it because I wanted to coach.

"What I'm doing now is another example of that. I don't have 500 wins, but I've been in huddles with millionaires and drawn up plays. I know how to coach."

Sports on 04/21/2016

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