Student Spotlight: Brandon Walker, Sociology

by Kathleen McCoy  |   

Brandon Walker's first love is basketball. He has a healthy give and take relationship with the sport, too.

Brandow Walker: UAA student on basketball and scienceFrom the San Francisco area, Brandon went to high school in Oakland. He played basketball throughout the school seasons and then also in the summers with club basketball, or Amateur Athletic Union basketball. Brandon played with the Oakland Soldiers, which allowed him to travel a lot and play with different guys than on his school teams. The Soldiers have been one of the top club basketball programs in the country since it was founded in 1989.

Brandon says as a boy he certainly didn't anticipate getting that involved in basketball. "I didn't know I was good enough to play."

He used to be bowlegged. Brandon explains that when he was very young he wore braces on his legs like Forrest Gump. But when he started playing basketball, he was talented and lucky enough to have a few people take an interest in him and talk to him about his future. Lou Richie, one of the assistant coaches at the Bishop O'Dowd basketball camp noticed Brandon and talked to him about caring for his body, setting goals and staying mentally focused.

Brandon says, "Lou has been a huge influence in my life as a mentor. I am very thankful for him."

Lou was also the head coach for the Oakland Soldiers that Brandon would end up playing for. Over the years he encouraged Brandon to keep playing and told him that if he worked hard, he could possibly go to college for free by playing basketball. However, when a recruiter from UAA called, beckoning him to the Last Frontier, Brandon said, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll never go to school in Alaska. Please don't call me back."

Brandon played one year at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. But when the UAA recruiter called back and asked Brandon how his recruitment and future plans were going, he hadn't received any better offers, so he looked at what UAA had to offer both athletically and scholastically. He learned how big the Great Alaska Shootout is and the other options UAA had to offer. Also, he heard from the other players that head coach Rusty Osborne is really good to play for and is the same in the office as on the court.  Brandon decided to "roll the dice." He visited in early August and committed-10 days later he packed his stuff and moved up.

That year was the first time Brandon saw snow. As he puts it, he's allergic to the cold, so he stays indoors for the most part. He learned he really likes the college environment and ultimately wants to be a full-time college level coach himself one day. He expects to graduate May 2011 with a B.A. in sociology. Then he plans to search for a two-year grad assistantship; a program that would allow him to get his feet wet as an assistant coach while he gets his master's degree paid for.

UAA student Brandon Walker in the lab"The grad assistantship situation can't be beat because that's what I want to do," says Brandon.

He isn't waiting for that first assistant coaching position to learn the intricacies of teaching others how to play the sport he loves so much, either. Every summer, he helps kids learn basketball at a day camp called Triple Threat Academy in the San Francisco Bay area. He teaches them the basic skills of ball handling. He says it is a real challenge but also comes with great rewards. Patience was difficult at first with the age 5-8 group because he is the youngest in his family and hadn't spent much time around kids.

"With a five-year-old whose attention span lasts only a few seconds, you ask them to stand in a line and the next thing you know they are by the door," he says. But when he got used to the kids he found it very rewarding. He also helps out at the high-skills camp for 14-17 year olds.

What he says he is most proud of is getting to play college basketball. He remembers being a kid and watching how the big players walked and what they wore. He's always been a student of the game. Now he gets to be in that role and is very happy to be wearing a college jersey.

"It sounds kind of corny, but I'm proud to be a Seawolf."

If the opportunity presented itself for him to play professionally, Brandon says he'd consider it, but that would most likely be overseas and he doesn't want to be in Europe for long-he wants to get started on his life. Anyone who meets this young, soft-spoken gentleman and then sees how aggressively he plays with all his heart on the basketball court would say he's already made a fine start.

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