HIGH SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT
he gets. It’s organic and sincere, and I have to
think about it afterward before it even becomes
obvious to me Nick Walker is simply humble.
T
hough he always had a ball in his hand
from an early age, Nick actually began by watching
the sport as a spectator at a local youth league.
“My friend played at Graceland and I’d go and
watch,” Walker remembers. “His coach wanted to
start a travel ball team, and he asked me to join. I
got to play with guys like Romeo (Langford) and
Cobie (Barnes).”
His love of the game solidified, and Nick joined
the basketball program at Henryville Elementary
School in 5th grade (the first eligible opportunity
offered in his hometown). Since that time, Nick
has been a favorite among his coaches and an
asset to the program.
When Walker entered high school in 2014,
Henryville’s varsity basketball was in transition
with a new coach and hadn’t experienced any
success in some time. In fact, the Hornets had
only won a total of three games over a two-year
period. Nick was an instant boost to his teammates
that year, starting every varsity game but one.
“Nick’s first varsity season – my first season – we
won nine games,” said Henryville High School
boys varsity basketball coach Jared Hill. “It was
still technically a losing season for us, but it was
a huge improvement over where the team had
been the two years previous. Nick Walker was
definitely part of the reason for that growth.”
Of course I only learn this information from
Coach Hill, as Nick tells me very little about his
personal contributions at all. Instead, he briefly
reports on his disappointment in the losses that
first year and his pride in the team when they
came together to create successful winning
records in the following two.
“The times when your team has been working
on something together and it’s effective – when
you’re all having fun – that’s probably my favorite
thing about basketball,” Nick admits.
What Nick’s team