Illinois Basketball: Jamall Walker getting a shot as the Illini head coach
The Illinois basketball team will be entering the NIT this Tuesday against Valparaiso.
But, this NIT matchup isn’t normal. Usually, it is just two underperforming teams going at it with coaches who are likely on the hot seat. That isn’t the case with the Crusaders because they still had a 24-8 record and they lost their best player part way through the season.
And actually, that isn’t the case with Illinois anymore either. With John Groce being relieved of his duties as the head coach of this team on Saturday, the interim head coach Jamall Walker really has nothing to lose now.
While the head coach search probably started a while ago with athletic director Josh Whitman building a list of candidates, Walker still has a shot to impress. I don’t know if he would be considered for this position but he has a chance to show he can be a head coach somewhere if not Illinois.
The coaching history of Walker is decent. He has experience in the game, just not as a head coach. He started from the bottom, now he’s here. Walker was an assistant coach at Alton High School in 2000. He then went and was an assistant coach at F.L. Schlagle High School from 2001-02.
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After Walker’s run at the high school level, he then continued to work his way up from the community college level in 2003 to stops at five D1 programs before coming to Illinois in 2013 with John Groce.
There is some solid experience there, just none as a head coach. That is a worry for me if he was a candidate for the Illinois job.
I do like Walker’s ability to recruit, though. He is clearly the main recruiter for the Illini and someone who can connect with high school athletes. That is a big bonus to him as a coaching candidate.
Here is where I stand with Walker and Illinois. I wrote an article about getting rid of Groce mid-season and letter Walker take over to see what he could do. Well, now he gets that shot and I am in favor of that.
I don’t want Walker as the head coach of the Illini because he hasn’t been a head coach anywhere else. In addition to that, the regime he was a part of didn’t succeed in Champaign. Whether it was because of him or not, he was still a part of that regime.
The best case scenario is the Illini make a run and win the NIT with Walker as the head coach. He will then hopefully be retained by the next staff or he will get a job somewhere else as a head coach. The worst case scenario is the Illini flame out in the first round and we all move on.
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I am just glad Walker is getting a shot to show what he can do as a head coach. I hope nothing but the best for him and this team moving forward. I think they will respond to his coaching and hopefully, we can make a run at the NIT title.