Darrell Walker cut down a basketball net for the first time in 25 years Saturday night.
The last time had been March 6, 1982 -- exactly 25 years ago today -- when Walker was a junior guard for the Arkansas Razorbacks and helped cut down the nets at Reunion Arena in Dallas after his team beat Houston 84-69 to win the Southwest Conference Tournament championship.
Saturday night Walker, in his first season as head coach at Clark Atlanta University, helped cut down the nets after his Panthers beat Fort Valley State 64-62 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship game in Birmingham, Ala., to earn an NCAA Division II Tournament bid.
"The players forced me to get up on the ladder," Walker said Sunday with a laugh. "I was a little nervous about that because I was afraid of falling."
Walker, a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, said he didn't cut down the nets when he played for the Chicago Bulls team that was led by Michael Jordan and won the 1993 NBA championship.
"Nobody cuts down nets when you win an NBA championship," he said. "Everybody just runs to the locker room where the champagne is."
Walker played and coached in the NBA for 20 seasons, including stints as a head coach for the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards earning All-America honors at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville as a senior in 1984,.
Walker, let go as a New York Knicks assistant in 2014 when Mike Woodson was fired as coach, said it was disappointing when he didn't land a college job. He kept being told, Walker said, that his resume was impressive, but he'd never coached at the college level.
Clark Atlanta Athletic Director Lin Dawson and President Ronald Johnson made the decision to hire Walker last spring after the Panthers finished 7-21 in 2015 and 9-20 in 2016.
"It blew my mind that people would say I couldn't coach in college," Walker said. "I knew all I needed was an opportunity.
"I'm not bragging, but I always knew I could coach. I've been around the game too long. I've been around so many good coaches and good players, and some bad ones, too.
"So I've seen it from both sides. There's nothing I haven't seen."
Walker, a long-time Little Rock resident who turns 56 Thursday, said the challenges he endured to become a college coach hit him Saturday night.
"I got a little emotional after the game when I was sitting down and the guys were jumping around on the court celebrating," Walker said. "I was just so thankful somebody gave me a chance to coach in college, and I thank my athletic director and my president for believing in me.
"It's very satisfying to do what we just accomplished."
Clark Atlanta will play Friday in the NCAA South Central Regional in Valdosta, Ga. The Panthers' opponent will be announced today.
"My players are so happy, and I'm happy for them," Walker said. "I coached them hard and for them to gut it out all season and get this win, it's big for the team and big for the school.
"Now it's just survive and advance in the NCAA Tournament."
Fort Valley State led 62-61 before Panthers senior forward Chuka Eneh hit a three-point basket in the final seconds for the winning margin.
It was Eneh's only basket of the game. He played seven minutes off the bench and was in for the final few possessions because two of the Panthers' starters had fouled out.
"I was all over Chuka at our last timeout telling him, 'C'mon, pick it up, let's go,' " Walker said. "I kind of read him the riot act. Then he went out and made a big shot for us.
"It was a dogfight. You know how those conference tournaments are. Both teams want to get to the NCAA Tournament and they're really going after it.
"We just found a way to get it done."
Sports on 03/06/2017