Last season, Andre Walker led the Commodores in only one traditional statistical category, finishing the year 50% from three-point range – largely a result of attempting only four threes all season. But the redshirt junior’s place among the top three on the team in almost every other significant stat – assists, blocks, field goal percentage, rebounds – tells the whole story of Walker’s value to Vanderbilt.
The 6-foot-7-inch power forward’s combination of size and ball-handling will once again make him a key player in Head Coach Kevin Stalling’s defensive schemes and press-breaking tactics. And with the departure of center A.J. Ogilvy, Walker may also be relied upon to score with more frequency early on in the season while fellow big men Festus Ezeli and Steve Tchiengang define their roles inside more clearly. Look for Walker to find his way onto the scoresheet with the same consistency that made him such an important piece of last year’s team.
2009-10 Stats: 25.0 MPG, 53.9% FG, 6.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.5 APG, 29 blocks
Had a team-high 10 rebounds and 7 assists to go with 8 points in a 95-87 win over Florida
Q&A with redshirt junior power forward Andre Walker:
What part of your game was your biggest point of emphasis this offseason?
“Probably working on my jump shot and just being more aggressive with the ball, trying to make plays.”
Do you think your role on the team changes this year?
“I think it’ll be the same, probably more definitive. I just need to be more aggressive along with doing what I did last year because we lost a couple of pieces.”
With A.J. Ogilvy gone and Festus Ezeli and Steve Tchiengang seeing more minutes, do you think there’s been a personality change down low?
“A.J. was always a really hard worker, and he always wanted to do what’s best for the team, and that’s the same with Steve and Fez. They’re great personalities, and they just want to help us out.
How much of a factor do you think this team’s experience is going to be in a division where other teams are bringing in a lot of new players?
“I think it will help out a lot. We are a very experienced team, and maybe not a lot of people know that, so it’ll help us going down the stretch. We’ve been in almost every situation you can be, preseason and NCAA tournament games. So it should help us out.
What kind of things can the team work on in the preseason to prevent the late-season struggles that you guys had last year?
“We actually had a team meeting yesterday where we talked about it, how it wasn’t good enough for this year. So it’s always in the back of our mind, but for right now we’re just focused on the upcoming game.”
