Dantley Walker - Signed to UNLV

Here's a link to a recent story about Dantley Walker - a basketball player from Nevada that is breaking nearly every record in the state. He has scored over 60 points 3 times in the past couple of weeks! He not only leads the state in points per game but also is the state leader in assists as well.



http://www.heraldextra.com/sports/blogs/jason-franchuk/article_2922844a-2eda-11e0-bf7c-001cc4c03286.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



The article also contains a link to his 73 point game. When you click on the link to the video you will need to scroll down and view the game from 2-1-11 against Agassi Prep. If you only have a few minutes - move forward in the video to about the 59 minute mark. You will see a few examples of why he has been called the Jimmer Fredette of Nevada High School Basketball.

Dantley is my great-nephew. He is amazingly skilled. What's amazing is the Lincoln County team this year has little talent besides him, so he gets double and triple teamed every game--and he still puts up big numbers.



And lest you think he can only do this against chump players, he played with the Findley AAU team the past two summers, with all the big boys from the Vegas schools, he can play with any of them. His biggest drawback is his size, I'm doubtful BYU will offer him because of his size, might let him walkon. But he's one fun player to watch.

Dantley is currently averaging 35.4 points per game along with 9.9 assists. He is averaging over 40 points per game since league play began in January. See link below for current list of Nevada stat leaders.



http://www.nevadapreps.com/boys/basketball/leaders/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



By the way - the number 2 scorer this year in the state of Nevada is Justyn Anderson from Mountain View High School - and they will be playing Dantley's school tomorrow night (Friday 2-4-11 at 7:30 pacific time). You can tune into the following link to watch the game.



http://www.lctsys.com/html/lchsportal_main.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



One final note. Based on the Max Preps site - Dantley would rank number 6 in the country in scoring and number 6 in the country in assists. (Although I doubt this is a complete list because I don't see Dantley's name included) Regardless, how often does a player come along that would rank that high nationally in both categories?

I played against Lincoln County in High School. I hated them (mostly because they always beat us...pretty badly)

Dantley had 35 points and 13 assists in his game last night against Mountain View. It was one of those games where you are surprised that he ended up with the stat line he did. He makes everything look so easy - and really got his teammates going.

Dantley had 19 points and a record breaking 22 assists in game against Calvary Chapel on Saturday night. Below is the article from Nevadapreps.com:



Lincoln County 90, Calvary Chapel 41 — At Calvary Chapel, Lincoln County senior Dantley Walker set yet another Nevada record, dishing out 22 assists as the Lynx routed the Lions.



Walker, who last month set the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s records for points in a game and points in a career, also had 19 points, seven steals and six rebounds. He also owns state marks for assists in a season and in a career.



The previous record for assists in a game was 21, set by Virgin Valley’s Alex Jensen in 1980 and matched by Walker earlier this season.



Ryan Rippetoe added 29 points and nine rebounds, and Chandler Katschke supplied 16 points and 14 rebounds for Lincoln County, which raced to a 44-16 halftime lead.



Bobby Buist scored 12 points and Joey Peterson 11 for Calvary Chapel.

Dantley is also the ESPN Western Regional player of the week.

http://rise.espn.go.com/boys-basketball/articles/2011/02/02-Regional-Players-of-the-Week.aspx?pursuit=BoysBasketball" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Coach Rose went to Panaca, Nevada to watch Dantley on Friday. Walker had a mere 35 points, but set a Nevada state record with 22 assists on Saturday.

I think Dave Rose and company will offer this kid a scholarship, particularly because he's planning on his mission 1st which allows us to offer him.



The kid could make an incredible 6th man until he gets up to speed to run the point by his junior/senior year.



If he goes on his mission then redshirts, he could actually fill out too and make a pretty strong point. Plenty of time to get him acclimated from 2a ball to the big time.

Dantley's father is (and was) a very strong guy. His mother's brothers were all good sized, strong players. Dantley might weigh 150 soaking wet, but if will hit the weights, bulk up a bit, and go on his mission first, which he is planning to do, he could be a very good point for BYU three or four years from now.



One thing I've noticed about Dantley is he ends up on the floor a lot, mostly just because he does not have enough mass, weight, leg strength, etc to avoid getting knocked to the floor by bigger players. I think he'll outgrow this problem. His family would love him to go to BYU, sadly UNLV is probably Dantley's second choice, mainly because he has played with all those UNLV guys in summer ball in Las Vegas.

Here's my vote- Lock this kid up, and get it done quick. He's going to start drawing a lot of attention with stats like those.

The other great thing about Dantley are all those intangibles that don't show up on a stat sheet. He is such a clutch player and just seems to find ways to help his team win. I've seen on numerous occasions where he will take a close game and blow it wide open with a stretch of plays (whether scores, assists, steals) etc that turns the game to his teams favor. Those intangibles are things can't be taught but come from his genetic make-up. I saw the same traits in his dad and his uncles when they played ball years ago.

I don't see the harm in taking a risk on this kid. At worst he becomes the next Michael Rose, which wasn't that bad at all, just some unmet expectations. Upside on this kid could be huge though.

3 Point Shooting Comparisons. I know it may a bit of an apples to oranges comparison - but just for fun.



Dantley Walker - 3 pointers in a season = 144 (from his junior year - he has a good chance to better that mark this year)

BYU Record - 3 pointers in a season = 88 (Jonathan Tavernari)

Jimmer Fredette - 3 pointers in a season so far this year = 78

Jimmer Fredette - 3 pointers in a season during his Sr. Year in HS = 81



Dantley Walker - 3 pointers in a career = 450+ and counting (The #2 player in Nevada HS record books had 210)

BYU Record - 3 pointers in a career = 265 (Jonathan Tavernari)

Jimmer Fredette - 3 pointers in his career so far = 250



I'm not trying to compare Dantley to Tavernari or Fredette (I just listed the numbers to provide some frame of reference for Dantley's 3-point shooting totals)



Also - if you watch video of his games you will realize that many of these three point shots are taken from NBA 3-point range.

For every comparison like that, you can find another comparison like Mike Rose, who had more 3s and a better % than Fredette in HS as well, but it didn't translate into torrid NCAA production.

snoscythe wrote:
For every comparison like that, you can find another comparison like Mike Rose, who had more 3s and a better % than Fredette in HS as well, but it didn't translate into torrid NCAA production.

Nevertheless, Rose was a very valuable asset to the Cougars. If that's the best we got out of Walker, he would be well worth the schollie, and as you mentioned earlier, his upside could be huge. Remember that Jimmer only had two offers out of HS, and his upside has been fairly big. ;)

bigbluepuma wrote:

For every comparison like that, you can find another comparison like Mike Rose, who had more 3s and a better % than Fredette in HS as well, but it didn't translate into torrid NCAA production.

Nevertheless, Rose was a very valuable asset to the Cougars. If that's the best we got out of Walker, he would be well worth the schollie, and as you mentioned earlier, his upside could be huge. Remember that Jimmer only had two offers out of HS, and his upside has been fairly big. ;)

I'm not saying we should avoid the kid--you'll remember I said earlier I think we should offer him. What I'm saying is that you need to be careful what expectations you are setting in those comparisons. If all you do is show how is stats are better than Jimmer's etc., he's going to be a fanboard whipping boy if all he ever becomes is the next Mike Rose (who was a fanboard whipping boy after he never regained the magic of his breakout game as a freshman and never learned the defensive side of things).



The comparisons we make in large part set up the expectations people will have. All I was trying to do was avoid people getting carried away labeling him the next Jimmer or the next Jewish Jordan.

I guess I don't understand how HS comparison of 3pt shooting doesn't translate into college. Does the court get bigger? the hoop smaller? Sure things speed up and you may play teams with much better 3pt defense as well as you'll play in bigger arenas, but seriously. it's the same shot.



enlighten me!

The 3pt line is further back. Gyms are different dimensions so the sight lines aren't the same. Opponents are quicker and bigger.



The game changes at each level. Shooting doesn't always translate at the next level.

kitic77 wrote:
The 3pt line is further back. Gyms are different dimensions so the sight lines aren't the same. Opponents are quicker and bigger.



The game changes at each level. Shooting doesn't always translate at the next level.

It doesn't always translate, but sometimes it does. I doubt someone this prolific would have a total drop off at the next level. Defense is obviously the main concern for him at the next level.

What is it about Brett Kingma that made for no brainer offer when Walker isn't though?



Kingma isn't even LDS



I think the only difference is the level of competition and Walkers frail body-type.



Like I said, if he plans on a mission before school, then he gets an offer. (for goodness sake, we have magnusson, martineau, and zylstra on scholarship..... I'd trade all 3 for another Mike Rose scoring option this year)



He'll also be an afterthought to recruits about potential playing time competition when we go to recruit Chatman, Emery, and Haws.