Third-Team Accolade Goes to Walker

Blake Walker helped to lead his team over Dordt in the first round of the NAIA Division II National Championship Tournament.

Blake Walker helped to lead his team over Dordt in the first round of the NAIA Division II National Championship Tournament.

Oskaloosa–Blake Walker (Sr., Rose Garden, Physical Education) closed out his collegiate cager career with a much-deserved honor as the 2013-2014 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball All-America teams were announced Wednesday.

Walker was named to the NAIA’s third team, technically ranking him as one of the top 30 players in the division (each team has ten selections). The laurel is his first and is the 14th in program history. A total of 68 players, including one more from the Midwest Collegiate Conference, received some form of national recognition.

It is also the 11th A-A award under Head Coach John Henry.

Walker guided the Statesmen to a 24-10 record, including a 9-3 mark in the MCC. The MCC Player of the Year’s all-around game was crucial to WPU’s postseason run, which included an MCC Tournament title and a surprising advancement to the NAIA Division II National Championship quarterfinal round by the #27-seeded program.

For the year, the senior averaged 11.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.5 assists in addition to 22 steals and 15 blocks. During the national tourney, he broke the school’s single-season assists record with 222. He had five double-doubles and one triple-double this year and was named MCC Player of the Week on February 24. His 178 free-throw attempts rank as the sixth most in program history.

Walker, who was a four-time all-league pick in his career, tallied 1,433 career points (11.4 per game) with 792 rebounds (6.0 per game) and a school-record 643 assists (4.9 per game). He also had 140 steals and 50 blocks.

He ranks in the top ten in almost every career category, including second in free throws attempted (547), third in field goals attempted (1,323), fourth in rebounds, steals, and free throws made (314), sixth in field goals made (551), and seventh in points.

“Blake’s goals have always been team-oriented, but I know being an All-American has been a dream of his, so seeing it happen is very special,” Head Coach John Henry said. “We are all very proud of him.”

Posted by on Mar 20 2014. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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