Lindsey is a proud pop
Woonsocket native Walter Lindsey proud of his son Jalen’s growth at Providence
Villa Novan alum is dad of Friars’ Jalen Lindsey
bmcgair@pawtuckettimes.com
PROVIDENCE – What told Walter Lindsey that son Jalen’s basketball career at Providence College is coming to a close?
A 1985 graduate of Woonsocket High School, where he also played on the Villa Novans boys basketball team, Walter mixed and mingled with Friar personnel before the Feb. 17 game at Butler. That particular contest represented one of many PC road games that the now-Tennessee based Bullock has seen in person over the past four years. It also doubled as confirmation that told Walter that Jalen has morphed in ways that you’ll never find on the stat sheet.
“Talking with [athletic director] Bob Driscoll, the academic folks, and coach [Ed] Cooley, they all said the same thing. Everyone is really proud of how far Jalen has come,” said Walter. “It’s kind of gone beyond my expectations in terms of his career as a person. As a father, I’m not looking at it from a basketball standpoint. I never did. I always looked at it as, ‘How’s he going to mature as a person and how’s that going to set him up for life?’’
Walter Lindsey’s emotions flowed over the phone Friday morning when he talked about his son’s growth off the court in a Friar career that on Saturday (noontime tip) will see him play his final home game at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center against St. John’s. As a player on a Big East team, Jalen Lindsey has always had eyes on him – judging him, assessing him, seeing if he can handle the rigors of a demanding schedule.
When asked how he would sum up Jalen’s Friar tenure that has included stretches of brilliance – from hitting five 3-pointers as a freshman against Florida State to torching the Madison Square Garden nets for 30 points against St. John’s during his sophomore year – and struggles. He enters Saturday having scoring just 14 points over the past four games – Walter Lindsey spoke in terms befitting a son who has checked off all the important boxes on his to graduating with a degree in social science this May.
“I’ll sum it up as successful in terms of a parallel to life itself. He’s had some ups and downs in his career at PC. He has times where he’s been on top and also on the bottom where’s he’s had to deal with criticism – media and fan – and still try to stay focused on his goals related to the typical college experience,” said Walter, who flew to Providence on Thursday afternoon in an effort to spend some quality time with Jalen before turning his undivided attention to the Red Storm.
“When I look at it, it culminated with him becoming a strong person because of all of it. When you talk to Jalen today versus talking to him in 2013 and 2014, he’s a completely different guy. He’s definitely matured through the process,” Walter added. “For me, it’s a sense of pride and accomplishment from all the work he’s had to put in and the challenges he faced as a basketball player going into college. For me as a parent, it’s been about watching him mature throughout this process. He’s walking out with what our dream was for him – to get his degree.”
Obtaining that piece of paper is a very big deal. Lindsey is on track to become the first grandchild on either his father’s or mother Sandra’s side to graduate from college.
“We knew that Jalen wasn’t a one-and-done player,” said 51-year-old Walter Lindsey. “He went to PC to grow and mature and play basketball, but he was also blessed with the opportunity to get his education. That’s what we wanted.”
Jalen Lindsey supplied a verbal pledge to the Friars during the summer of 2013. At the time, he was the first Class of 2014 schoolboy to commit to PC. Eventually, that class grew to include present-day teammate Kyron Cartwright and the since-departed Paschal Chukwu and Ben Bentil.
Landing a top-50 recruit in Lindsey was viewed as a major coup for a Providence program that at that point was approaching 10 years between NCAA Tournament appearances. Lindsey selected PC over Tennessee, Florida, Louisville, and Vanderbilt.
Asked if he thought Jalen took a leap of faith by hitching his wagon to the Friars when Cooley was still pounding rocks in his quest to establish a winning culture, his dad said that such a viewpoint was never broached.
“The biggest thing for Jalen at that particular time, and even as us as a family as we always make family decisions … it was a culmination of support that we felt from the program and the commitment from coach Cooley and [former Providence assistant] Bob Simon in terms of what he needed to do to reach his goal of getting his degree and being in a program that would help him grow as a basketball player,” said Walter Lindsey. “As a parent, you’ve got to make sure you’re providing the guard rail in helping them not fall off the road, but eventually you’ve got to let them breathe and grow on their own. At times, they don’t understand what you’re telling them. They’ve got to learn through experience. All you can do is support and know when to push and when to lay off.
“With Jalen, we did a lot of pushing, then backed out and let him grow on his own.”
Walter Lindsey works for General Motors, where he’s in a leadership position. It’s in that capacity where the father stressed to his son about the importance of taking a more active role inside PC’s locker room.
“Taking leadership with the team was the missing piece. He’s always been well-spoken and articulate,” said Walter. “It was just him taking that leap of faith to take the challenge to be a leader and be more vocal rather than being goofy and just having fun.”
Saturday marks the sixth time in Jalen’s Providence tenure that Walter will be present to see him take the court at The Dunk.
“I love the opportunity to travel to watch him play,” said Lindsey.
The proud dad also spoke about the pride that washes over him every time he sits down and clicks on the Friars.
“It wasn’t until I started watching him on television that it started to hit me that he made it to a D-I program where he felt comfortable with the coaches. Oh by the way, he’s on television. All the family members get to watch and it’s one of the ‘Ahha’ moments that you sit back and say to yourself, ‘Wow, this is awesome’” said Walter. “Then to have the opportunity to come to the games is just the cherry on top.”
For the Woonsocket bornand-raised Walter Lindsey, the emotions of Senior Day at The Dunk figure to really hit home when he accompanies his wife Sandra and Jalen to center-court as part of the pregame festivities. The expected ovation when Jalen Lindsey’s name is announced figures to provide yet another seminal reminder of just how far he’s come.
“There’s a lot of pride in Woonsocket because of the fact I’m from there. We talk to a lot of friends and family who are really proud of Jalen,” said Walter Lindsey. “It’s a huge deal and shows what can happen through hard work and sacrifice.”