View source for Darrell Walker

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{short description|American college basketball coach and former player}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Darrell Walker
| image = Darrell Walker.jpg
| width = 
| caption = Walker in 2013
| position = Head coach
| team = Little Rock Trojans
| league = [[Ohio Valley Conference]]
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 4
| weight_lb = 180
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|3|9}}
| birth_place = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| high_school = [[Corliss High School|Corliss]] (Chicago, Illinois)
| college = 
*{{nowrap|[[Arkansas–Fort Smith Lions#Men's basketball|Arkansas–Fort Smith]] (1979–1980)}}
*[[Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball|Arkansas]] (1980–1983)
| draft_year = 1983
| draft_round = 1
| draft_pick = 12
| draft_team = [[New York Knicks]]
| career_start = 1983
| career_end = 1993
| career_number = 4, 5, 20
| career_position = [[Point guard]] / [[shooting guard]]
| years1 = {{nbay|1983|start}}–{{nbay|1985|end}}
| team1 = [[New York Knicks]]
| years2 = {{nbay|1986|full=y}}
| team2 = [[Denver Nuggets]]
| years3 = {{nbay|1988|start}}–{{nbay|1990|end}}
| team3 = [[Washington Bullets]]
| years4 = {{nbay|1991|start}}–{{nbay|1992|start}}
| team4 = [[Detroit Pistons]]
| years5 = {{nbay|1992|end}}
| team5 = [[Chicago Bulls]]
| cyears1 = {{nbay|1995|full=yes}}
| cteam1 = [[Toronto Raptors]] (assistant)
| cyears2 = {{nbay|1996|start}}–{{nbay|1997|end}}
| cteam2 = Toronto Raptors
| cyears3 = 1999–2000
| cteam3 = [[Rockford Lightning]]
| cyears4 = {{nbay|1999|end}}
| cteam4 = Washington Wizards
| cyears5 = [[2000 WNBA season|2000]]
| cteam5 = [[Washington Mystics]] (interim)
| cyears6 = {{nbay|2004|start}}–{{nbay|2007|end}}
| cteam6 = [[New Orleans Hornets]] (assistant)
| cyears7 = {{nbay|2008|start}}–{{nbay|2010|end}}
| cteam7 = Detroit Pistons (assistant)
| cyears8 = {{nbay|2011|end}}–{{nbay|2013|end}}
| cteam8 = New York Knicks (assistant)
| cyears9 = 2016–2018
| cteam9 = [[Clark Atlanta Panthers men's basketball|Clark Atlanta]]
| cyears10 = {{nowrap|2018–present}}
| cteam10 = [[Little Rock Trojans men's basketball|Little Rock]]
| highlights = '''As player:'''
* [[NBA champion]] ({{nbafy|1993}})
* [[NBA All-Rookie First Team]] ({{nbay|1983|end}})
* Consensus second-team [[NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|All-American]] ([[1983 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|1983]])
* [[Southwest Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year|SWC co-Player of the Year]] (1983)
* First-team All-[[Southwest Conference|SWC]] (1983)
'''As coach:'''
* [[SIAC men's basketball tournament|SIAC tournament]] champion (2017)
* [[Sun Belt Conference|Sun Belt]] regular season champion (2020)
* [[Ohio Valley Conference|OVC]] regular season champion (2024)
* Sun Belt Coach of the Year (2020)
* OVC Coach of the Year (2024)
| stat1label = [[Point (basketball)|Points]]
| stat1value = 6,389 (8.9 ppg)
| stat2label = [[Assist (basketball)|Assists]]
| stat2value = 3,276 (4.6 apg)
| stat3label = [[Steal (basketball)|Steals]]
| stat3value = 1,090 (1.5 spg)
}}
'''Darrell Walker''' (born March 9, 1961) is an American [[college basketball]] coach and retired professional player. He is currently head men's coach at the [[University of Arkansas at Little Rock]]. Walker played in [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA) for 10 seasons, winning an NBA championship with the [[Chicago Bulls]] in [[1993 NBA Finals|1993]]. He played [[college basketball]] for [[Arkansas–Fort Smith Lions#Men's basketball|Westark Community College]] and the [[Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball|Arkansas Razorbacks]].

==Playing career==
After graduating from [[Chicago]]'s [[Corliss High School]], Walker played [[college basketball]] at Westark Community College (now the [[University of Arkansas–Fort Smith]]) and the [[Arkansas Razorbacks|University of Arkansas]]. He was selected by the [[New York Knicks]] with the 12th pick in the first round of the [[1983 NBA draft]]. Over a ten-year career, he played for five teams—the Knicks, the [[Denver Nuggets]], the [[Washington Bullets]], the [[Detroit Pistons]], and the [[Chicago Bulls]]. Walker is a member of [[Kappa Alpha Psi]] fraternity.

Walker was selected to the [[1983–84 NBA season|1984]] NBA All-Rookie team, and was among the league leaders during his career in assists and steals. His best season was in [[1989–90 NBA season|1989–90]] with the Washington Bullets when he averaged 9.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game. He won an NBA title with the Chicago Bulls in his final season.

==Coaching career==
Walker has served as head coach for two different teams—the [[Toronto Raptors]] and the [[Washington Wizards]]. He was the Raptors' second coach, following [[Brendan Malone]], and led the team for a season and a half. In 2000, he replaced the fired<ref>{{cite news| url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/news/2000/01/29/heard_fired_ap/ | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119103141/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/news/2000/01/29/heard_fired_ap/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 19, 2013 | work=CNN | title=Washington fires head coach Gar Heard | date=January 31, 2000}}</ref> [[Gar Heard]] in Washington for half a season (the first coaching "call-up" in history, having previously been the coach of the [[Rockford Lightning]] of the [[Continental Basketball Association|CBA]]), but was then replaced by [[Leonard Hamilton]] the next year. Later that same year, he was named the interim head coach of the [[Washington Mystics]] of the [[Women's National Basketball Association|WNBA]], replacing [[Nancy Darsch]] who resigned during the season.<ref>{{cite news |last=White |first=Joseph |date=July 15, 2000 |title=Darsch quits as Mystics coach |work=ESPN.com |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/news/2000/0714/633644.html |accessdate=April 17, 2021}}</ref> He remained in Washington as director of player personnel and later head scout before joining the Hornets as assistant coach.

In March 2012, Walker became an assistant coach with the [[New York Knicks]], where he was on staff until 2014.<ref name="knicks hire">
{{cite news |date=March 17, 2012 |title=Jim Todd, Darrell Walker join Knicks interim coach Mike Woodson's staff as assistants |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/jim-todd-darrell-walker-join-knicks-interim-coach-mike-woodsons-staff-as-assistants/2012/03/17/gIQAqitCJS_story.html |url-status=dead |access-date=March 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201030435/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/jim-todd-darrell-walker-join-knicks-interim-coach-mike-woodsons-staff-as-assistants/2012/03/17/gIQAqitCJS_story.html |archive-date=February 1, 2019 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Walker was named the head coach at [[Clark Atlanta University]] in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://clarkatlantasports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=347&path=mbball |title=Clark Atlanta University Athletics |access-date=March 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326165801/http://clarkatlantasports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=347&path=mbball |archive-date=March 26, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In two seasons with the Panthers, Walker guided the team to a 45–18 overall record a [[Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference|SIAC]] conference tournament championship, and two appearances in the [[NCAA Division II]] tournament.

On March 27, 2018, Walker was named the head men's basketball coach at the [[Little Rock Trojans men's basketball|University of Arkansas at Little Rock]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Darrell Walker Named Head Men's Basketball Coach|website=lrtrojans.com|date=March 27, 2018|url=http://lrtrojans.com/news/2018/3/27/darrell-walker-named-head-mens-basketball-coach.aspx}}</ref>

== Career playing statistics ==
{{NBA player statistics legend|champion=y|leader=y}}

===NBA===
Source<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/walkeda01.html|title=Darrell Walker|website=[[Basketball Reference]]|publisher=Sports Reference, LLC|accessdate=1 September 2023}}</ref>

====Regular season====
{{NBA player statistics start}}
|-
|style="text-align:left;|{{nbay|1983}}
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1983–84 New York Knicks season|New York]]
|style="background:#cfecec;"|'''82'''*||0||16.1||.417||'''.267'''||'''.791'''||2.0||3.5||1.5||.2||7.9
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1984}}
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1984–85 New York Knicks season|New York]]
|style="background:#cfecec;"|'''82'''*||66||30.4||.435||.000||.700||3.4||5.0||'''2.0'''||.3||'''13.5'''
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1985}}
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1985–86 New York Knicks season|New York]]
|81||35||25.0||.430||.000||.686||2.7||4.2||1.8||.4||10.3
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1986}}
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1986–87 Denver Nuggets season|Denver]]
|81||25||24.9||'''.482'''||.000||.745||4.0||3.5||1.5||'''.5'''||12.2
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1987}}
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1987–88 Washington Bullets season|Washington]]
|52||0||18.1||.392||.000||.781||2.4||1.9||1.2||.2||6.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1988}}
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1988–89 Washington Bullets season|Washington]]
|79||78||32.5||.420||.000||.772||6.4||6.3||'''2.0'''||.3||9.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1989}}
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1988–89 Washington Bullets season|Washington]]
|81||'''81'''||'''35.6'''||.454||.095||.687||'''8.8'''||'''8.0'''||1.7||.4||9.5
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1990}}
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1990–91 Washington Bullets season|Washington]]
|71||65||32.5||.430||.000||.604||7.0||6.5||1.1||'''.5'''||7.8
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1991}}
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1991–92 Detroit Pistons season|Detroit]]
|74||4||20.8||.423||.000||.619||3.2||2.8||.9||.2||5.2
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1992}}
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1992–93 Detroit Pistons season|Detroit]]
|9||2||16.0||.158||.000||.333||2.1||1.0||1.1||.0||.9
|-
|style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|{{nbay|1992|nolink=y}}†
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1992–93 Chicago Bulls season|Chicago]]
|28||0||13.1||.403||&ndash;||.500||1.4||1.6||.8||.1||2.6
|- class="sortbottom"
|style="text-align:center;" colspan=2|Career
|720||356||25.8||.435||.059||.713||4.4||4.6||1.5||.3||8.9
|}

====Playoffs====
{{NBA player statistics start}}
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1984 NBA playoffs|1984]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1983–84 New York Knicks season|New York]]
|'''12'''|| ||16.3||.370||&ndash;||.609||2.9||1.7||'''2.0'''||.2||6.8
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1987 NBA playoffs|1987]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1986–87 Denver Nuggets season|Denver]]
|3||'''3'''||22.7||.324||&ndash;||.571||3.3||1.7||.7||.0||8.7
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1988 NBA playoffs|1988]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1987–88 Washington Bullets season|Washington]]
|5||0||'''31.0'''||'''.407'''||.000||.688||'''4.8'''||'''2.8'''||1.4||'''.8'''||'''11.0'''
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1992 NBA playoffs|1992]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1991–92 Detroit Pistons season|Detroit]]
|5||0||13.6||.333||&ndash;||'''1.000'''||2.4||.8||.2||.0||2.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|[[1993 NBA playoffs|1993]]†
|style="text-align:left;"|[[1992–93 Chicago Bulls season|Chicago]]
|9||0||2.4||.250||&ndash;||.667||.1||.6||.0||.0||.4
|- class="sortbottom"
|style="text-align:center;" colspan=2|Career
|34||3||14.9||.368||.000||.645||2.4||1.4||1.0||.2||5.2
|}

==Head coaching record==

===NBA===
{{NBA coach statistics legend}}
{{NBA coach statistics start}}
|-
|align="left"|[[1996–97 Toronto Raptors season|Toronto]]
|align="left"|{{nbay|1996}}
| 82 || 30 || 52 || {{Winning percentage|30|52}} ||align="center"|8th in Central|| – || – || – || {{Winning percentage|0|0}}
|align="center"|Missed Playoffs
|-
|align="left"|[[1997–98 Toronto Raptors season|Toronto]]
|align="left"|{{nbay|1997}}
| 49 || 11 || 38 || {{Winning percentage|11|38}} ||align="center"|(fired)|| – || – || – || {{Winning percentage|0|0}}
|align="center"|–
|-
|align="left"|[[1999–2000 Washington Wizards season|Washington]]
|align="left"|{{nbay|1999|trunc=y}}
| 38 || 15 || 23 || {{Winning percentage|15|23}} ||align="center"|7th in Atlantic|| – || – || – || {{Winning percentage|0|0}}
|align="center"|Missed Playoffs
|- class="sortbottom"
|align="left"|'''Career'''
| || 169 || 56 || 113 || {{Winning percentage|56|113}} || || – || – || – || {{Winning percentage|0|0}} ||
{{s-end}}

===WNBA===
{{NBA coach statistics legend}}
{{NBA coach statistics start}}
|-
|align="left"|[[2000 Washington Mystics season|Washington]]
|align="left"|{{wnbay|2000}}
| 12 || 5 || 7 || {{Winning percentage|5|7}} ||align="center"|4th in East|| 2 || 0 || 2 || {{Winning percentage|0|2}}
|align="center"|Lost in [[2000 WNBA Playoffs|Conference semifinals]]
|- class="sortbottom"
|align="left"|'''Career'''
| || 12 || 5 || 7 || {{Winning percentage|5|7}} || || 2 || 0 || 2 || {{Winning percentage|0|2}} ||
{{s-end}}

===College===
{{CBB Yearly Record Start | type = | conference = | postseason = | poll = }}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name       = [[Clark Atlanta Panthers men's basketball|Clark Atlanta Panthers]]
 | conference = [[Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]]
 | startyear  = 2016
 | endyear    = 2018
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry 
 | championship = conference tournament
 | season       = 2016–17
 | name         = Clark Atlanta
 | overall      = 21–12
 | conference   = 12–5
 | confstanding = 2nd <small>(East)</small>
 | postseason   = [[2017 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament|NCAA Division II First Round]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry 
 | championship = 
 | season       = 2017–18
 | name         = Clark Atlanta
 | overall      = 24–6
 | conference   = 16–3
 | confstanding = 2nd <small>(East)</small>
 | postseason   = [[2018 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament|NCAA Division II First Round]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Clark Atlanta
 | overall    = {{winpct|45|18|record=y}}
 | confrecord = {{winpct|28|8|record=y}}
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name       = [[Little Rock Trojans men's basketball|Little Rock Trojans]]
 | conference = [[Sun Belt Conference]]
 | startyear  = 2018
 | endyear    = 2022
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry 
 | championship = 
 | season       = [[2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|2018–19]]
 | name         = [[2018–19 Little Rock Trojans men's basketball team|Little Rock]]
 | overall      = 10–21
 | conference   = 5–13
 | confstanding = T–11th
 | postseason   =  
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry 
 | championship = conference
 | season       = [[2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|2019–20]]
 | name         = [[2019–20 Little Rock Trojans men's basketball team|Little Rock]]
 | overall      = 21–10
 | conference   = 15–5
 | confstanding = 1st
 | postseason   = ''No postseason held''
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry 
 | championship = 
 | season       = [[2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|2020–21]]
 | name         = [[2020–21 Little Rock Trojans men's basketball team|Little Rock]]
 | overall      = 11–15
 | conference   = 7–11
 | confstanding = 5th <small>(West)</small>
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry 
 | championship = 
 | season       = [[2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|2021–22]]
 | name         = [[2021–22 Little Rock Trojans men's basketball team|Little Rock]]
 | overall      = 9–19
 | conference   = 3–11
 | confstanding = 12th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name       = [[Little Rock Trojans men's basketball|Little Rock Trojans]]
 | conference = [[Ohio Valley Conference]]
 | startyear  = 2022
 | endyear    = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry 
 | championship = 
 | season       = [[2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|2022–23]]
 | name         = [[2022–23 Little Rock Trojans men's basketball team|Little Rock]]
 | overall      = 10–21
 | conference   = 6–12
 | confstanding = T–8th
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry 
 | championship = conference 
 | season       = [[2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|2023–24]]
 | name         = [[2023–24 Little Rock Trojans men's basketball team|Little Rock]]
 | overall      = 21–13
 | conference   = 14–4
 | confstanding = T–1st
 | postseason   = [[2024 College Basketball Invitational|CBI First Round]]
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry 
 | championship = 
 | season       = [[2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|2024–25]]
 | name         = [[2024–25 Little Rock Trojans men's basketball team|Little Rock]]
 | overall      = 19–14
 | conference   = 12–8
 | confstanding = T–3rd
 | postseason   = 
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Little Rock
 | overall    = {{winpct|101|113|record=y}}
 | confrecord = {{winpct|52|60|record=y}}
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record End
 | overall = {{winpct|146|131|record=y}}
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/walkeda01.html Basketball-Reference.com: Darrell Walker (as player)]
* [https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/walkeda01c.html Basketball-Reference.com: Darrell Walker (as NBA coach)]
* [https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/coaches/walkeda99w.html Basketball-Reference.com: Darrell Walker (as WNBA coach)]

{{Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Navboxes
| list1 =
{{Toronto Raptors coach navbox}}
{{Washington Wizards coach navbox}}
{{Washington Mystics}}
{{Little Rock Trojans men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year navbox}}
{{Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year navbox}}
{{Chicago Bulls 1992–93 NBA champions}}
{{1983 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1983 NBA draft}}
{{Southwest Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year navbox}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Darrell}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:African-American basketball coaches]]
[[Category:All-American college men's basketball players]]
[[Category:American expatriate basketball people in Canada]]
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[[Category:New York Knicks draft picks]]
[[Category:New York Knicks players]]
[[Category:Shooting guards]]
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[[Category:Washington Wizards executives]]
[[Category:Washington Wizards head coaches]]