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Walker steps down as CCC coach

By Ted Schultz
Herald Sports Editor

(Courtesy of the Clinton Herald)

CLINTON - Bob Walker has enjoyed basketball success his entire life, whether it be as a player or coach.

His career in the sport he loves will come to an end in the near future.

Walker said he will retire as Clinton Community College's men's basketball coach at the end of the season. The Cougars begin regional tournament play today.

"I just feel it's time to step down," said Walker, who has coached the Cougars for more than two decades. "I'm getting to the age where I want to be a little more selfish with my time. I love the coaching part of it - I'm going to miss that a lot. But the road trips are very long and tiring - I won't miss that part."

Walker was an all-state performer at Clinton High School in 1966 and continued his playing career both at Clinton Community College and Winona State in Minnesota.

After graduating with a degree in physical education and health, he took a job in Fort Thomas, Ariz., where he taught and coached before taking a similar job in Bellevue.

He got out of education for two years to sell insurance before taking a job as teacher, athletic director and coach at CCC in the fall of 1981.

"Going from the high school level to the college level was a bit of an adjustment," said Walker, who will continue to teach and serve as athletic director at CCC. "In high school you might have one or two good players, but for the most part everyone coming to the college game was one of the best on his high school team. It's tough for some of those kids to accept roles of not playing as much."

Walker, who has coached longer than virtually every college basketball coach in the state, enjoyed success almost immediately at CCC.

He coached a team to the national tournament in 1983, and then again in 1988 and 1993. The 1993 squad went on to take third place.

"Any time you make it to nationals it's pretty memorable," said Walker, who has a career record of 435-358 at CCC and 496 total coaching wins."The 1992 team was also a memorable one. We were ranked first in the nation at the end of the regular season before getting upset in the regional tournament. And the 1988 team was really impressive when you consider we had no player taller than 6-4, yet averaged 99 points a game."

Walker has coached six All-Americans, the first being Quinton Dale.

"It's tough to name the best player I've ever coached, but I'll remember Quinton since he's kind of the one who helped get things started here," said Walker.

Other All-Americans include Reggie Mahone, James Jones, Maurice Barnett, Steve Parillon and Walker's son, Casey.

"Having my son on the team was a great experience," said Walker. "I got to see him play, yet coach him at the same time. It may have been difficult for him in some ways, but it was fun for me."

Walker has seen a few significant changes in the game over the years.

"The introduction of the shot clock and 3-point shot in the 1980s were big adjustments," he said, also noting how physical the game has become. "The 3-pointer really changed the game. You don't see as many guys shooting short jump shots. It seems now a guy's either an outside player or an inside player."

The 3-pointer led to one of Walker's more exciting coaching experiences.

"We were playing Ellsworth in 1988 for the regional championship," he recalled. "We fell behind by 25 in the first half. I told the guys we had to start shooting 3-pointers and cut it to 10 by halftime.

"We started hitting a bunch of them and actually got it down to six," he continued. "I went into the locker room and pretended to be mad, saying, 'I told you to cut it to 10, not six.' They all started laughing at that."

The momentum of making the long shots carried over into the second half. Clinton finished with 14 3-pointers on its way to a 109-102 victory.

Besides good players and great teams, Walker has also benefited from the cooperation of the college itself.

"Clinton Community College has been very supportive over the years," he said. "They've done everything in their power to make my job easier."

Walker said it will be strange not coaching next season.

"My whole life has been basketball, so it's going to be tough not going to practice," he said. "Even now I watch games on television and try to pick up things we can incorporate into our team. It's going to be different not coaching, that's for sure."

Still, Walker won't lose all contact with the college's basketball program.

"I've gotten to know a lot of the coaches in the conference very well and I like talking with them whenever they come to town," said Walker. "I'll still go to a lot of games.

"But I won't go on the road for any," he added with a laugh. "You won't see me making the long trip to Iowa Lakes."