Greetings, basketball fans. Today marks the second week of the HoriZone PC series, which is a tribute to every current Horizon League coach in the style of video games. In this column, we’re gonna feature Ben Walker, a first-year Associate Head Coach for the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers. For those of you that know about Walker and others that don’t, he is a former NCAA star as a player and Creighton.
Background: Starting all 4 years for the Bluejays, Walker played in 124 games (119 starts) under head coach Dana Altman, finishing 6th in program history in steals (148) and tied for 9th in rebounds (677). During those 4 years, Walker was teammates with future NBA stars in Rodney Buford and Kyle Korver. Walker was then inducted into the Creighton University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.
As a freshman in the 1997-98 season, Walker played in all 28 games (24 starts), averaging 5.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game all while shooting 40.7 percent from downtown (11-of-27). Creighton finished 18-10 overall and 12-6 in conference play, settling for 2nd place in the Missouri Valley standings behind undisputed champion Illinois State and also lost to Marquette in the 1st Round of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
With Walker’s sophomore year, we start things in NCAA Final Four 99. Playing in all 31 games (30 starts), Walker’s numbers went up as expected as he averaged 9.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game, and he also shot 45.8 percent from behind the 3-point line (29-of-64). That season, Creighton improved to 22-9 overall and finished in a 3-way tie for second place in the Missouri Valley standings with Bradley and Missouri State since all 3 teams each were 11-7 in conference play. As a 3-seed, Creighton knocked off top-seeded Evansville 70-61 in the conference tournament title game and ended up making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991 before losing to Maryland in the 2nd Round.
NCAA Final Four 99:
Now on to Walker’s junior season which features him in NCAA Final Four 2000. As a junior in the 1999-2000 campaign, Walker had the best season of his career. He started all 33 games for the Bluejays and was the squad’s top scorer at 12 points a night along with averaging 6.3 rebounds and a steal per game, also shooting 70.8 percent from the foul line (85-of-120) and 46.8 percent on 3-pointers (36-of-77). After the regular season, Walker and teammate Ryan Sears both made All-Missouri Valley 2nd Team. That season, Creighton recorded an overall record of 23-10 overall and finished 11-7 in conference play again, which was good for 4th place in the Missouri Valley. However, the Bluejays pulled off upsets in the conference tournament by upsetting top-seed Indiana State by a field goal in the semifinals and winning by 12 over 2nd-seed Missouri State in the championship game on their way to their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, which is where they lost a close one to Auburn in the 1st Round.
NCAA Final Four 2000:
In Walker’s final NCAA season, he is in NCAA Final Four 2001. For this one, he is played on both the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 versions of this game. As a senior in the 2000-2001 season, Walker started all 32 games and averaged career-highs with 12.3 points per game and a 74.8 free throw percentage (98-of-131). His other averages were 6.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per contest. Walker made his 2nd straight All-Missouri Valley 2nd Team along with teammate Korver, and he also made the Missouri Valley All-Defensive Team alongside of teammate Sears (who was an All-MVC 1st Team that same season).
Creighton finished with the Missouri Valley Regular Season Championship for the first time since 1991, going 14-4 against conference opponents along with an impressive 24-8 overall record on their way to their 3rd straight NCAA Tournament appearance. But the Bluejays ended the season with back-to-back 13-point losses against Indiana State in the conference tournament semifinals, and then to Big Ten Tournament Champion Iowa in the 1st Round of the big dance.
NCAA Final Four 2001, PlayStation:
NCAA Final Four 2001, PlayStation 2:
As a professional, Walker has played overseas in Qatar, Latvia, Australia and Norway. He also played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for both the Sioux Falls Skyforce and Gary Steelheads before earning a pair of NBA tryouts with the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers.
You can watch highlights of Walker in his Creighton days on a YouTube video titled “Ben Walker – Creighton Bluejays Highlight Reel“:
