University of Oklahoma Athletics
OU Signs Junior College Point Guard
May 03, 2005 | Men's Basketball
NORMAN, Okla. Oklahoma men's basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson announced today that Chris Walker, a 6-3, 185-pound junior college point guard from San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif., has signed a national letter of intent to play for the Sooners beginning next season.
Walker, the 2004-05 Northern California Junior College Player of the Year, directed the Mustangs to a 30-2 record this past season while averaging 11.7 points, 7.7 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game. The assist and steal averages led the Bay Valley East Conference. San Joaquin Delta advanced to the semifinals of the California Community College Championships where it lost by one point in overtime.
“We're excited about Chris,” said Sampson, who has coached the Sooners to eight consecutive 20-win seasons. “The point guard position is such a key position. There are so many good guards out there who play the point but aren't point guards. Chris is a point guard and he's a winner. I think winning is his greatest attribute.”
Continued Sampson, “He was the Northern California Junior College Player of the Year but he only averaged 11 points. The thing you take from that is that he knows how to win and makes people better. He's long, he's left-handed. His strength is running the team and understanding the point guard position. We think he'll step in and help us right away.”
Walker, who attended Foothill High School in Sacramento, Calif., and won a state title as a senior, has helped his teams post a combined 115-15 record over the past four seasons (two at Foothill and two at San Joaquin Delta), according to his junior college head coach, Brian Katz.
Said Katz, “He's a tremendous leader, a tremendous playmaker. He is a consummate point guard who has nothing on his mind but winning. Chris just has a great ability to think the game, understand the game and win the game. He does so many things that don't show up in the box score. I'd like to know if anyone who's been player of the year anywhere has averaged 11 points a game. That tells you there's a lot more going on with him than just stats. He's mature way beyond his years.
“The guys (at Oklahoma) will love playing with him because they'll get the ball. He leads in a positive way and knows how to nurture the group. In my opinion, he'll be the Tom Brady of point guards in NCAA basketball. There are guys who throw the ball farther and do all this and do all that, but Tom Brady has three rings and you still never hear him mentioned among the top guys. Chris is cut from the same mold.”
Walker joins an OU recruiting class that also includes junior college first-team All-America guard Michael Neal, Texas All-State high school guard Austin Johnson and Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year Taylor Griffin, a high school forward.
Oklahoma is coming off a 25-8 season in which it earned a share of the 2005 Big 12 regular season title by posting a 12-4 league record. The Sooners were the Big 12 Tournament No. 1 seed and earned a No. 3 NCAA Tournament seeding.
