Former Vol Walker finds himself at Nebraska

#3
#3
I remember him in the Rocky Top League in west Knoxville before his freshman season. His monster dunks during warmups rattled the gym. And he was extremely friendly and respectful meeting with the fans that were there. Probably my favorite TN player that transferred out. He played on CRB’s 3rd and 4th TN teams which were his first to return to the NCAAT.

BTW, I wish that Barnes hadn’t ended the RTL. But I understand. No need to risk an injury to one of his guys. I wish that it would have continued at least with former TN players and local kids that attended other schools.
 
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#4
#4
Thunder Good-Oil said:
I remember him in the Rocky Top League in west Knoxville before his freshman season. His monster dunks during warmups rattled the gym. And he was extremely friendly and respectful meeting with the fans that were there. Probably my favorite TN player that transferred out. He played on CRB’s 3rd and 4th TN teams which were his first to return to the NCAAT.

BTW, I wish that Barnes hadn’t ended the RTL. But I understand. No need to risk an injury to one of his guys. I wish that it would have continued at least with former TN players and local kids that attended other schools.
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Great question, it didn't even dawn on me the RTL wasn't a thing anymore until you pointed it out. I remember fans putting way more stock/expectations in player performance than they should have based on that league... Still, curious why it stopped? Those guys play pick up ball all the time in random places - RTL was at least cool for the fans.
 
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#5
#5
TNVOLFN said:
Great question, it didn't even dawn on me the RTL wasn't a thing anymore until you pointed it out. I remember fans putting way more stock/expectations in player performance than they should have based on that league... Still, curious why it stopped? Those guys play pick up ball all the time in random places - RTL was at least cool for the fans.
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Yeah, avoiding injury can't be the reason. If those guys aren't playing at some Knoxville HS in the RTL, then they're playing somewhere else, so injury is still a concern that's most always out of the staff's control.
 
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#6
#6
wmcovol said:
Sometimes it just takes time.

How Nebraska's Derrick Walker got 'out of the dark place' and began playing his best basketball
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Good for him. Glad to see he's grown up, owned his mistakes, and made the best of his second opportunity. He's got his degree, he's made an impact on his community, and you can't ask for more than that as a success story for collegiate athletics.

Walker was the talk of the town before his freshman year when the Tennessee team took a trip overseas for some preseason scrimmages against some Euro teams. He was allegedly the best player on the floor for that trip. We never really saw it materialize once the season started, and he transferred after two years. Glad he made it count and fought through the adversity.
 
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#8
#8
Not easy to do well in such a loaded conference top to bottom as the Big Ten. Good for him.
 
#9
#9
wmcovol said:
Sometimes it just takes time.

How Nebraska's Derrick Walker got 'out of the dark place' and began playing his best basketball
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The way he describes what he went through, I feel 100%. My girlfriend would get up, go to class, go to her sorority stuff, work out and come back to her dorm room and I would still be asleep in a pitch black room. I would sleep 12 hours day in and day out. I wasn't on drugs, didn't drink much and at worst occasionally smoked.

Adjusting to college is hard for many. It took support from my Mother and girlfriend, me finding the right major and a career opportunity while in college to help me find the motivation to get out of bed. This was definitely situational and not chemical. I sleep well now. Get up early and hit the gym before work. I'm constantly learning and I enjoy time around people... Sometimes lol

Thank you for posting this article because it reminds me of just how much better things are today than they were then. I think it also is food for thought for many!

Side note, my girlfriend was an absolute saint.

Hang on to the good ones guys!
 
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#10
#10
cncchris33 said:
Yeah, avoiding injury can't be the reason. If those guys aren't playing at some Knoxville HS in the RTL, then they're playing somewhere else, so injury is still a concern that's most always out of the staff's control.
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Since the team works out year round I don’t think that they’re playing a lot of, if any, pickup games that aren’t being supervised by the staff. The RTL coaches were more celebrities than actual coaches that knew what they were doing.

Plus it wasn’t just an occasional pick up game. It was about a half dozen games squeezed into a couple of weeks. And without trainers there to make sure everybody warmed up properly and was treated for injuries. It was a very amateurish event. But still fun for the fans and they raised some money for the host school with concession sales.

Iirc, it was 6 teams that played every other team once (5 games each) and then the top 4 had a playoff. I think that it ran about 3 weeks with two weekends in between - maybe 2 or 3 days the first week, then 2 or 3 the second, and then 2 days of the finals just before the 4th of July.
 
#11
#11
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Since the team works out year round I don’t think that they’re playing a lot of, if any, pickup games that aren’t being supervised by the staff. The RTL coaches were more celebrities than actual coaches that knew what they were doing.

Plus it wasn’t just an occasional pick up game. It was about a half dozen games squeezed into a couple of weeks. And without trainers there to make sure everybody warmed up properly and was treated for injuries. It was a very amateurish event. But still fun for the fans and they raised some money for the host school with concession sales.

Iirc, it was 6 teams that played every other team once (5 games each) and then the top 4 had a playoff. I think that it ran about 3 weeks with two weekends in between - maybe 2 or 3 days the first week, then 2 or 3 the second, and then 2 days of the finals just before the 4th of July.
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Pickup games supervised by the staff doesn't make these guys any less susceptible to injury. The point is that they aren't playing less basketball by virtue of not playing in the RTL. The injury risk is overblown, IMO.
 
#13
#13
cncchris33 said:
Pickup games supervised by the staff doesn't make these guys any less susceptible to injury. The point is that they aren't playing less basketball by virtue of not playing in the RTL. The injury risk is overblown, IMO.
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Reinforcement of bad habits is another reason. Plus repetitions of defensive habits that are nothing like what’s being taught. There is very little benefit, other than interacting with fans. S-As don’t have tgat much free time either.

Downside risk is turning an ankle or twisting a knee while not advancing their development at all. Plus players need some time away from basketball with all of the hours that they put in within the actual structured program.

As far as injury risk, they go hard in the RTL. Guys that aren’t offered by TN especially want to show the TN players up. Also there’s no staff wiping up wet spots on the court and the refs aren’t professionals. The players don’t stretch out before games as there’s nobody there supervising them. There aren’t trainers tapping up ankles before games.

I don’t blame Barnes at all for not promoting the RTL. But it could still exist as a platform for former Vols and local kids that played for other schools and top level high school players.
 
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#14
#14
From experience, depression can be a hard thing to overcome,but kudos to him on bettering himself,and having a good year. This kind of stories are always uplifting. Rooting for the guy moving forward!
 
#15
#15
TNVOLFN said:
Great question, it didn't even dawn on me the RTL wasn't a thing anymore until you pointed it out. I remember fans putting way more stock/expectations in player performance than they should have based on that league... Still, curious why it stopped? Those guys play pick up ball all the time in random places - RTL was at least cool for the fans.
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Kind of reminds me of Keys outburst in the Gonzaga pick up game. People are still expecting him to do that again.
 
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#19
#19
ColinS said:
Kind of reminds me of Keys outburst in the Gonzaga pick up game. People are still expecting him to do that again.
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Blowing up a preseason top-5 team for 26 points and punking a 38 year old, out of shape Ron Slay in a high school gym are two very different things.
 
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