Rex Walters
 Walters encouraging the team in 2009. | |
| Grand Rapids Drive | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | NBA Development League |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
March 12, 1970 Omaha, Nebraska |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Independence (San Jose, California) |
| College |
|
| NBA draft | 1993 / Round: 1 / Pick: 16th overall |
| Selected by the New Jersey Nets | |
| Playing career | 1993–2003 |
| Position | Shooting guard |
| Number | 2, 3, 23 |
| Coaching career | 2003–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1993–1995 | New Jersey Nets |
| 1995–1998 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 1998–2000 | Miami Heat |
| 2000 | Baloncesto León |
| 2000–2001 | Kansas City Knights |
| 2001–2002 | CB Gran Canaria |
| 2002–2003 | Kansas City Knights |
| As coach: | |
| 2003–2005 | Valparaiso (assistant) |
| 2005–2006 | Florida Atlantic (assistant) |
| 2006–2008 | Florida Atlantic |
| 2008–2016 | San Francisco |
| 2016–present | Grand Rapids Drive |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 1,547 (4.6 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 403 (1.2 rpg) |
| Assists | 569 (1.7 apg) |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Rex Andrew Walters (born March 12, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player and the current head coach of the Grand Rapids Drive.[1][2] Previously, he was the men's basketball coach at the University of San Francisco. Walters played college basketball at Northwestern University and the University of Kansas and played professionally for ten years, including seven seasons in the NBA, from 1993 to 2003.
Biography
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Walters played high school basketball at Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, California, but graduated from Independence High School in San Jose, California.[3] Walters played at Northwestern University before transferring to the University of Kansas, where he helped lead the Jayhawks to the Final Four in 1993. During his time at Kansas he was coached by Roy Williams. The 6'4" (1.93 m) shooting guard was selected by the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets with the 16th pick in the 1993 NBA draft. Walters played in the league from 1993 until 2000. He was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in his third season and he also played briefly with the Miami Heat. After leaving the NBA, Walters played for León and Gran Canaria in Spain.[4] In addition to his playing career, Walters had a minor role in the 1994 film Blue Chips. Walters is biracial; his father is white and his mother is Japanese.[5]
In an interview with Rick Quan, Rex Walters responded to the question of feeling that he was a pioneer for Asian-Americans. He responded – "I consider myself Japanese-American. I just don't look it. People are always surprised. Now we got a guy like Jeremy Lin breaking barriers, I'd like to think I played a small part in that". He later added, "People ask me who I am? What I am? I am a Japanese-American, I take great pride in that."[6]
Coaching career
From 2006–2008, Walters served as the men's basketball coach at Florida Atlantic University. From 2008 to 2016 he was the head basketball coach at the University of San Francisco.[7] In 2014, Rex Walters was named WCC Coach of the Year by his coaching peers. He finished his University of San Francisco coaching career with a 127-127 overall record in 2016, including a 63-65 mark in West Coast Conference games.[8] On June 29, 2016, Walters was named the head coach of the Grand Rapids Drive[9]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Atlantic (Sun Belt Conference) (2006–2008) | |||||||||
| 2006–07 | Florida Atlantic | 16–15 | 10–8 | 3rd (East) | |||||
| 2007–08 | Florida Atlantic | 15–18 | 8–10 | 4th (East) | |||||
| Florida Atlantic: | 31–33 (.484) | 18–18 (.500) | |||||||
| San Francisco (West Coast Conference) (2008–present) | |||||||||
| 2008–09 | San Francisco | 11–19 | 3–11 | 7th | |||||
| 2009–10 | San Francisco | 12–18 | 7–7 | T–4th | |||||
| 2010–11 | San Francisco | 19–15 | 10–4 | 3rd | CIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2011–12 | San Francisco | 20–14 | 8–8 | 5th | CBI First Round | ||||
| 2012–13 | San Francisco | 14–15 | 7–9 | 5th | |||||
| 2013–14 | San Francisco | 21–12 | 13–5 | 2nd | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2014–15 | San Francisco | 14–18 | 7–11 | 6th | |||||
| 2015–16 | San Francisco | 15–15 | 8–10 | 5th | |||||
| San Francisco: | 126–125 (.502) | 63–65 (.492) | |||||||
| Total: | 157–158 (.498) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
- ↑ http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2016/06/pistons_announce_grand_rapids.html
- ↑ http://www.nba.com/pistons/features/pistons-tab-basketball-junkie-rex-walters-coach-d-league-affiliate-drive/
- ↑ "Rex Walters". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
- ↑ "Walters Added to Doherty's Staff: Former Kansas and NBA player joins men's basketball staff". CSTV Networks, Inc. 2005-04-20. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
- ↑ Hua, Vanessa (April 10, 2006). "Asian American basketball leagues boost game skills and ethnic pride". San Francisco Chronicle. p. A1.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4b0nLia7c0
- ↑ Chu, Bryan (2008-04-14). "USF Hires Rex Walters". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
- ↑ http://www.usfdons.com/news/2016/3/9/mens-basketball-walters-dismissed-as-mens-head-basketball-coach-Walters-USF.aspx
- ↑ http://woodtv.com/2016/06/29/grand-rapids-drive-gets-new-head-coach-gm/