Your future, our focus
Walk-ons are the ultimate optimists in American sport.
They are players who don’t need a microscope to see silver linings.
They are players of broad faith who just know in their hearts that fate, borrowing the index finger of the head coach, will tap them on the shoulder.
The walk-on is a universal story in college basketball. Just about every team has one or more. It’s true for the Northwest College Trappers closing in on an historic season with a 26-2 record entering the Region IX playoffs.
Stars lead the way, but Levi Peterson of Moorcroft, Aaron Clark of Lovell and Jordan Rood of Rock Springs are more anonymous contributors.
It’s always a challenge for small-town Wyoming kids to continue their basketball educations at the next level. So they play college basketball the hard way – without scholarships.
Peterson, Clark and Rood are members of the walk-on fraternity. That means to prove they are true to their school they must pay their own tuition, books, room and board.
A walk-on sweats as much as anyone in practice, then sits on the bench during games. A walk-on must shelve his ego and seek more subtle rewards than those measured in the box score.
The walk-on is the Every Man of hoops. When he rises and rips off his warm-up jacket for rare game appearances, spectators, especially students, cheer a little louder than normal.
End-of-the-bench guys always have a tight rapport with the crowd. Maybe those clapping the loudest wish it was them rushing into the game for two minutes of PT. Better two minutes of playing time than not being part of the team.
Anyone on a college team almost surely was a star in high school.
“I had no idea where I could play, but it was something I wanted to do,” Peterson said. “I thought one coach would take a chance on me.”
Northwest coach Brian Erickson was that guy. As a school that is part of the Wyoming junior college system, Northwest has a certain responsibility to give former Wyoming high school players a chance.
Erickson played high school, junior college and college ball without being a bench-warmer, but he appreciates what a hungry player can add to a squad.
“The biggest thing walk-ons do is make us better every day,” he said of practice. “They are helping our guys. And they get the opportunity to be better next year.”
“Levi, Jordan and Aaron are three guys who put in the work. It’s awesome to see them improve. They want it so badly and they’re willing to work for it every day. They put in the same amount of work as their teammates.”
There are a couple of ways for the 12th, 13th and 14th men to get playing time.
A higher rated player can go down with an injury, but that has not occurred.
Or a blow-out can be the walk-ons’ best friend. Northwest has frequently won by large margins this season.
In a recent 122-90 victory over Little Big Horn, Hood and Clark played seven minutes each, although Peterson was out with a sprained ankle.
Clark scored 7 points and Hood 5. They each nailed a 3-pointer and those shots brought big-time roars from the crowd – that bonding thing.
Sometimes walk-ons are asked questions that could be construed as insulting. Why do you bother if you aren’t going to play? Why do you bother if people don’t know you are on the team?
“‘Is it fair?’ is something you think about,” Peterson said. “You’ve just got to hope it pays off sometime.”
Diplomat Winston Churchill once said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
That could be the walk-on’s motto.
Peterson also said, “It’s not just about you.”
Peterson – and all walk-ons – recognize value of belonging to a team, being part of something larger than the individual.
Just a theory, but maybe walk-ons make for solid citizens later in everyday life because they care more about the common good.