This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The transition from being a bigtime high school player to the college level can be a huge one. And a difficult one. James Walker isn't immune to this. The rookie Utah State point guard fell out of favor with Stew Morrill and out of the rotation as he's struggled defensively, and struggled with leading the Aggie offense. Most of all, he's struggled with his practice habits.
Even so, Walker has as much talent as any player Morrill's brought in this past decade. Seeing him against Long Beach State opened some eyes. Walker, for the first time this season, stopped thinking about what he SHOULD do and actually PLAYED. And when he did that, the results were tangible. Walker scored seven points in 12 minutes and ran the offense smoothly in doing so. He made one move at the top of the key, crossing a player over, getting into the lane and scoring, that drew ooohs and ahhhs from the Spectrum crowd. There may not be a guy on Utah State's roster who could've made that move.
Walker has to be better defensively, and he needs to be patient. Also, he may see time at shooting guard because the USU coaching staff wants to make an effort to redshirt freshman guard Leon Cooper. As the season goes on, it's not difficult to imagine Walker making a significant impact on Utah State. He's 6-3, long, athletic, very fast and a good shooter. His benching the last few games, in Morrill's words, were a "lesson in humility".
But he's played hard when put on the scout team and he's trying to win back time. It's a good problem for the Aggies that E.J. Farris is playing so well at back-up point guard that it will be hard to sit him. But Walker can play two positions, and if he can contribute, he will make the Aggies' backcourt very deep indeed.
Tony Jones