History, Rich Tradition Drive Guard Walton
10/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Derrick Walton Jr. is stepping up to the challenge of becoming the next great men's basketball point guard at the University of Michigan, hoping to have the same kind of strong sophomore season that his predecessors, Darius Morris and Trey Burke, did.
"Trey Burke's play inspired me," Walton said. "He played the point guard position the exact way I want to play it. I still, to this day, watch film of his freshman and sophomore years. I think his play inspired me more than anything he could have said."
Burke was a NBA first-round pick in 2013 and is a rising star for the Utah Jazz. Morris, a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011, has played three years in the NBA and is trying to stick with the Portland Trail Blazers this season.
"He's a little bit of a mix of both of them," said Wolverine assistant coach LaVall Jordan, who works with guards. "Darius and Trey were aggressive by nature to score, and it opened up a lot of options. Derrick sees the game a little differently. He's able to score, but he really enjoys getting teammates involved -- probably first. So, for him, that blend of finding opportunities to score and keeping your teammates involved is important ... But you have to think score first and then everything else opens up.
-- Derrick Walton Jr.
"And the one thing they all share is that they're competitive. And so you start there. You've got a guy with the ball in his hands that all he cares about is winning. The rest takes care of itself."
Wolverine coach John Beilein said Walton is putting in the time and effort necessary to take his game up a notch or two.
"The biggest growth has been his physical development," said Beilein. "He has taken very seriously the advice of our nutritionist, our strength coaches and the coaching staff. And he really worked hard at enhancing the great athleticism that he already had.
"You're going to see strength, quickness and explosiveness that is even better than he had before."
Walton averaged 7.9 points, 2.9 assists and 3.0 rebounds last season -- having a better freshman year than Morris but a lesser one than Burke had. But he showed plenty of potential when scoring 19 points with six rebounds and four assists in a win at Michigan State.
And, with leading scorers Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III off to the NBA, Beilein needs Walton to have more high-scoring games to join Caris LeVert and Zak Irvin in picking up the slack for the defending Big Ten regular-season champions.
"He is the typical pass-first point guard," Beilein said of Walton. "And while that was good in many environments, in our current environment I think he's got to think a little more score and still use those great instincts to pass when he should."
Walton scored 47 points in a game for Chandler Park Academy in Harper Woods, Mich., and has a flair for the dramatic. He hit a shot from just beyond half court before the first-half buzzer at Nebraska, and then scored the winning basket with 21.8 seconds to play in the game.
Beilein's desire to have Walton score more works for him.
"I'm comfortable with it," Walton said. "I did a lot throughout high school. So, I don't think it's going to be a tough challenge for me. But the adjustment from what I did last year is a little bit of a challenge at times. But over the last two practices, I've done a good job with it.
"I work on my jumper a lot, and I'm not afraid to shoot it. I'll get used to it."
The Wolverines began practice Saturday and open the season at home with Hillsdale College on Nov. 15. Non-conference highlights include traveling to Arizona, hosting Syracuse and playing in a tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., -- where they open with Oregon before facing either Villanova or VCU.
Walton readied for the challenge of becoming a top scoring option by spending the spring and summer working with Michigan head strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson. It was a regimen similar to what LeVert and Stauskas followed the previous year that paid big dividends.
"I focused on getting in really tip-top shape and getting my body stronger so I'll be able to play the whole season at full-go," said Walton.
When asked what his typical offseason day with Sanderson was like, Walton leaned back in his chair, took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Every morning at 10, Monday through Thursday, it was a lot of heavy lifting," said Walton of the sessions that lasted 90 minutes to two hours. "It was things that correlated to basketball like power cleaning, bench-pressing and squatting. And some days, we'd go out and do agilities. I think all of this helped me out a great deal.
"It's paid off in endurance and being able to move quickly in tight spots. It's showed in finishing around the basket and my jumping ability is just enhanced. It took my game to another level. I feel a lot stronger."
After the workouts, Walton would eat lunch and go to classes before returning to Crisler Center for film study and court time.
"We'd be there from 6 to 10 at night," Walton said. "We'd be shooting in the gym, working on game situations and doing a lot of stuff that would make us better -- me Zak and Caris."
That's some serious dedication to improving your game, and Walton was able pinpoint the source of his hunger.
"The hunger comes from wanting to play at the highest level," he said. "I set that goal for myself at a young age, probably back to elementary school."
His favorite player as a young boy was Detroit Pistons point guard Isiah Thomas, and now he focuses on Los Angeles Clippers star Chris Paul.
"They were guys relative to my size that I modeled my game after," said Walton, who is 6-foot, 185 pounds. "Isiah, every game I saw, he had the same type of fire whether up 20 or down 20. I sensed he had the will to win and took that from him. I watch the way Chris Paul thinks the game at such a high level, with a high basketball IQ, and knowing the guys around him. So, I took from each of their games."
Burke and Walton have something in common that's helped them learn to set the bar high.
"Trey's dad was a head coach and held him to high standards," Jordan said, "and Derrick's dad was a coach and held him to high standards. So, they have that in common. Sometimes good isn't good enough when your dad coaches. Derrick's mind works so that he's really intent about holding himself to high standards, and doing what the coach wants from him. So, he's really tuned into Coach Beilein and what he wants."
Walton, as a result of that mindset, is intent on scoring at a higher clip.
But what he wants most is to win an NCAA championship this year in Indianapolis. The Wolverines were one win away from accomplishing that two years ago, and three points away from reaching a second consecutive Final Four last season.
"As a team, we want to make it to Monday night -- which is the championship game," Walton said. "And right now, I'm doing whatever I can to make sure that goal is still within reach. And if all that happens, all my personal goals will be met as well.
"If the team succeeds at the highest level, all of our personal goals will be met, too."
The Wolverines must find a big man to replace Jordan Morgan and have everyone else step up in order to compete with the nation's best teams. I asked Walton how he sees the team shaping up.
"This team is going to play well beyond its years," Walton said. "We're going to play fast, but in control. We're not going to turn the ball over. And you are going to see versatility -- a lot of different guys who can do a lot of different things."
And then there are the intangibles.
"Our locker room is very connected," Walton said. "Talent is always the factor that (people) judge over locker room, but a team that is connected can do the same thing that a group of talented guys can do."
Burke was only a three-star recruit, according to Rivals.com, while Morris and Walton were four-star players. They weren't five-star gems. But what Morris and Burke did, and what Walton is doing, is make everyone around them better while developing into NBA prospects.
