Originally Posted by
Olympic Fan
Just to set the record straight, Providence played in the NCAA all three of Walker's varsity seasons.
In 1964, The Friars lost a first-round game to Villanova -- which included three future NBA players -- Bill Melchionni (Gary's brother and Lee's uncle), Wally Jones and Jim Washington. The game wasn't close -- 77-66. In the next round, Duke blew out Villanova with Jeff Mullins having the best game of his career (40 points).
In 1965, Providence beat West Virginia, then beat St. Joseph's (Matt Goukas still there?) in OT to reach the regional finals in Columbia, S.C. That's when they faced Princeton and Bradley ruled -- Princeton won 109-69.
In 1966, Providence lost to St. Joseph's in the first round, 65-48. Duke edged St. Joe's, 76-74, in the East semifinals, then beat Syracuse with Dave Bing in the finals. Bing had a lot of trouble against Bubas' zone, but his backcourt mate kept it close with some deadly shooting. The guy wore glasses and already had a receding hairline. I think his name was Jim Boeheim. I wonder what happened to him?
Walker was a consensus first-team All-America in 1966 (along with Cazzie Russell, Clyde Lee, Dane Bing and Dave Schellhase ... Marin and Verga of Duke were second-team picks, along with Goukas and Louie Damphier). Russell swept the player of the year awards.
Walker didn't even make consensus second-team in 1965, when Bradley swept every POY award.