The Sun spoke to Righetti High School’s Hunter Walker as he laced up his kicks in preparation for taking on the area’s best basketball players at the Kiwanis Central Coast All-Star Basketball Spectacular on March 31.
Walker has been playing basketball for as long as he can remember, but it wasn’t until junior high, after years of playing with the same group of kids in his travel team, that he realized he was a step better than the kids from the city, too. Walker didn’t let his skills stagnate; he worked hard to take himself to a higher level.
That effort has paid off. With his help, the Righetti Warriors rose to the top this season, bringing the school to its first-ever state playoff game. Walker was also selected for the Kiwanis All-Star game, where he shined among the most talented ballers from San Luis Obispo County and Northern Santa Barbara County.
Walker played a brilliant game, attacking the basket aggressively and sinking vital three pointers with finesse. He scored 22 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and led his team in assists and steals.
He says his best quality as a player can’t be quantified in numbers, but it definitely produces and multiplies them.
“My biggest strength is my basketball smarts and my ability to think on the court [and] adjust to how the defense is playing me or what the offense is trying to do to me,” Walker explained.
Though high school basketball is over for the senior, the most exciting part of his basketball career may have only just begun.
During the summer, Walker will be traveling to Las Vegas to compete in a basketball tournament and showcase his skills in front of college basketball coaches. Walker said a few colleges have shown interest in him already: UC San Diego, Dominican University, Point Loma University, San Jose State University, and Hofstra University.
Walker said he’s thankful his parents have encouraged him to keep his academics first and his basketball second. He has a 3.8 GPA and an aptitude for mathematics. In college, he plans to study accounting.
This article appears in Apr 5-12, 2012.