Taking the next step
Scouts project Walker to be a lottery selection
CORAL GABLES — During one of Lonnie Walker IV’s first workouts at Miami last sum2002. mer, Jim Larrañaga took one look at the newly-arrived guard, turned to his assistant coaches and made a prediction.
“We’re not going to have him more than a year,” the Hurricanes coach recalled he told his staff. “He’s an NBA player.”
Roughly a year later, Walker is on the verge of proving Larrañaga right.
By late Thursday, when the NBA draft is over, the 6-foot-5 Walker, who led the Hurri- canes in scoring as a freshman this past season, is likely to hear his name called in the first round. That, in and of itself, is somewhat historic for the Hurricanes, who have produced just four first-round picks in program history. Only two of them — Rick Barry and Shane Larkin — were selected within the first 18 picks. Tim James was drafted 25th by the Miami Heat in 1999 and John Salmons was taken 26th by the Spurs in If Walker ends up a lottery pick, as some draft experts have projected, he’d become the second-highest pick in program history, behind Barry,
who went No. 2 to the San Francisco Warriors in 1965, and ahead of Larkin, who went No. 18 to the Atlanta Hawks in 2013.
The Reading, Pennsylvania native has said throughout the pre-draft process he’s living through a childhood dream.
“It’s been amazing,” Walker told reporters of his experience at last month’s NBA draft combine in Chicago. “Not too many people can say they’ve had the opportunity to be in the combine, and I feel like a little kid, like I’m in Disneyland. This is a dream come true. I’ve been thinking about this my entire life. It’s a blessing, honestly.”
For Walker, now comes the next step in the journey. After his lone college season where he averaged a teamhigh 11.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists, Walker has met with a bevy of NBA teams ahead of the draft, including the Hornets, Clippers, Nets, Bulls, Spurs, Knicks and 76ers.
He has said where he lands and when he is drafted matter little to him. It’s the chance to play in the NBA that has made his pre-draft journey so memorable, and that mature approach is part of the reason Larrañaga believes his first one-and-done player will be a success at the next level.
“He’s a very mature young man for someone as young as he is,” Larrañaga said of the 19-year-old Walker. “He has a very good balance in his life. He loves basketball, but he loves people. When I talked to him about his decision to turn pro, one of the things he was struggling with was how much he’d miss Chris Lykes, Deng Gak, and Sam Waardenburg, the freshmen he came in with. He really enjoys playing basketball and being part of a team, hanging out with them. He’s a very unselfish player. He’s a willing passer. He’s not so caught up with a huge ego as much as he wants to do whatever the team needs him to do.”
While it’s Walker that will likely garner the most attention in the coming days, he may not be the only Hurricane drafted this week.
Teammate Bruce Brown opted to leave Miami after his sophomore season. While he isn’t projected to be selected as high as Walker, Brown attended the NBA draft combine and has reportedly worked out for the Hawks, Bulls, Pacers, Timberwolves, Knicks, 76ers, Suns and Trail Blazers.
In Chicago, Walker raved about sharing a backcourt with Brown, an experience that was cut short when Brown injured his foot and was sidelined for the final six weeks of the season, a stretch that forced him to miss Miami’s games in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments.
“Bruce definitely carries a team. He does every aspect of the game. Whatever you want him to do — rebounding, passing, assists, whatever it shall be — he covers it,” Walker said of Brown, who averaged 11.4 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds for the Hurricanes before his injury. “He’s one of those players that can do everything offensively and do more defensively. Not only that, when he’s on the bench, when he got injured, how positive he was and how he approached the game, regardless of whether he was playing or not, it was very uplifting.”
However things shake out for the two former Hurricanes players, Larrañaga said this week he’s hopeful their journeys show more top-notch high school prospects that they, too, can be successful at Miami, despite the school’s history of traditionally producing more NFL than NBA talent, particularly because of Walker’s experience in Coral Gables.
“It sends a message to our recruits,” Larrañaga said. “You can develop into a one-and-done player here. I’m very excited for him, that he’s able to realize his dream. I think it’s something my staff and I anticipated from the first time we saw him in high school.”