2020 Custer County All Area Team Walker brings experience to young Mullen team in 2020
BROKEN BOW - Last year the Mullen boys basketball team flew under the radar with a young squad that went 21-7 and made the D2 State Basketball Tournament. One of the main reasons for that team’s success was one of the Bronco’s four upperclassman Brendon Walker.
He led the team in almost every major category last season with 14.9 points a game, 113 rebounds, and 86 steals heading into the state tournament.
It meant a lot for Walker to play so well, especially with how his season ended the year prior. An infection in his leg kept him out of the District Final game vs Blue Hill that Mullen ended up losing.
“It was a really big deal for me, because the year before I got an infection in my leg that caused me to sit out our district game,” Walker said. “It was also my brother’s last year, so I didn’t get to play with him. Being able to come back the next year with a bunch of freshman and sophomores was pretty awesome.”
With five returning starters off a fourth-place state team last season, the goal is simple and that is to win the state tournament. Before that though, Mullen just wants to focus on winning one game at a time.
“Obviously our biggest expectation this year is to try and win state, but mainly we are just going to try and win as many games as we can,” Walker said. “Last year we lost about five or six games we shouldn’t have. So this year we’re really going to aim to keep winning and win our conference title for the second year.”
In terms of what Walker brings to the Bronco team, it’s a mixture of scoring and passing to get his teammates open. He enjoys the passing part of the game more because he likes getting his teammates open for shots.
“I like to get guys open,” Walker said. “I don’t care if they are a threat to score or not. I make the defense commit to a shot or a drive and it helps get my teammates open.”
This season Walker has been working on his quickness off the court. In the past, he believes it’s hurt him in his driving ability and it’s definitely something he wants to try and add to his skill set.
“Last year I wasn’t super quick, so didn’t drive and finish as much,” Walker said. “During this offseason and now, driving and finishing are what I have been working on and just getting quicker. Everybody can shoot, but if you can’t get open it makes it a lot harder. So speed is definitely something I have been working on the last year.”
The goal for Walker this season is to become a more dynamic scorer than a season ago. He wants to get as close as he can to 20 points per game this season.
“Overall this season I am trying to shoot for 20 points per game if I can,” Walker said. “I definitely want to try and score more than I usually have.”
After high school Walker’s plans also involve basketball. He hopes to plays college hoops at a Division II school with hopes of one day being able to go Division I. He also plans on studying education and one day wants to be a basketball coach.
“I want to try and be around basketball as much as I can for the rest of my life,” Walker said.