Rex Walters
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Omaha, Nebraska | March 12, 1970
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Independence (San Jose, California) |
College |
|
NBA draft | 1993: 1st round, 16th overall pick |
Selected by the New Jersey Nets | |
Playing career | 1993–2003 |
Position | Shooting guard |
Number | 2, 3, 23 |
Coaching career | 2003–present |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1993–1995 | New Jersey Nets |
1995–1998 | Philadelphia 76ers |
1998–2000 | Miami Heat |
2000 | Baloncesto León |
2000–2001 | Kansas City Knights |
2001–2002 | CB Gran Canaria |
2002–2003 | Kansas City Knights |
As coach: | |
2003–2005 | Valparaiso (assistant) |
2005–2006 | Florida Atlantic (assistant) |
2006–2008 | Florida Atlantic |
2008–2016 | San Francisco |
2016–2017 | Grand Rapids Drive |
2017–2018 | Detroit Pistons (assistant) |
2018–2019 | Nevada (special assistant) |
2019–2020 | Wake Forest (assistant) |
2020–2021 | New Orleans Pelicans (assistant) |
Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As coach:
| |
Career NBA statistics | |
Points | 1,547 (4.6 ppg) |
Rebounds | 403 (1.2 rpg) |
Assists | 569 (1.7 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball Reference |
Rex Andrew Walters (born March 12, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who last served as an assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1][2] Previously, he was the Associate Head Coach[3] at Wake Forest University under Danny Manning. Prior to Wake Forest, he spent time at Nevada[4] under Eric Musselman. He has made head coaching stops with the Grand Rapid Drive[5] (NBA G-League), the University of San Francisco and Florida Atlantic University. Walters pedigree for coaching began as a player, receiving tutelage from some of the game legendary coaches.[6] Roy Williams at the University of Kansas and the NBA's Chuck Daly, Larry Brown and Pat Riley all mentored Walters during his years as a player. Walters played college basketball at Northwestern and Kansas. After Kansas, he played professionally for ten years, including seven seasons in the NBA from 1993 to 2003.
Biography
Born in Omaha, Nebraska on March 12, 1970, Walters played high school basketball at Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, California, but graduated from Independence High School in San Jose, California.[7] Walters played at Northwestern University before transferring to the University of Kansas, where he helped lead the Jayhawks to the Final Four in 1993. During his time at Kansas he was coached by Roy Williams. The 6'4" (1.93 m) shooting guard was selected by the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets with the 16th pick in the 1993 NBA draft. Walters played in the league from 1993 until 2000. He was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in his third season and he also played briefly with the Miami Heat. After leaving the NBA, Walters played for León and Gran Canaria in Spain.[8] In addition to his playing career, Walters had a minor role in the 1994 film Blue Chips.
Walters is biracial; his mother is Japanese and his father is white.[9] In an interview with Rick Quan, Rex Walters responded to the question of feeling that he was a pioneer for Asian Americans. He responded: "I consider myself Japanese-American. I just don't look it. People are always surprised. Now we got a guy like Jeremy Lin breaking barriers, I'd like to think I played a small part in that". He later added, "People ask me who I am? What I am? I am a Japanese-American, I take great pride in that."[10]
Coaching career
From 2006 to 2008, Walters served as the men's basketball coach at Florida Atlantic University. From 2008 to 2016 he was the head basketball coach at the University of San Francisco.[11]
In 2014, Walters was named WCC Coach of the Year by his coaching peers. He finished his University of San Francisco coaching career with a 126–125 overall record in 2016, including a 63–65 mark in West Coast Conference games.[12] On June 29, 2016, Walters was named the head coach of the Grand Rapids Drive.[13] On July 1, 2017 Walters was named an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons.[14]
On November 16, 2020, Walters was hired as assistant coach by the New Orleans Pelicans.[15]
Head coaching record
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Florida Atlantic Owls (Sun Belt Conference) (2006–2008) | |||||||||
2006–07 | Florida Atlantic | 16–15 | 10–8 | 3rd (East) | |||||
2007–08 | Florida Atlantic | 15–18 | 8–10 | 4th (East) | |||||
Florida Atlantic: | 31–33 (.484) | 18–18 (.500) | |||||||
San Francisco Dons (West Coast Conference) (2008–2016) | |||||||||
2008–09 | San Francisco | 11–19 | 3–11 | 7th | |||||
2009–10 | San Francisco | 12–18 | 7–7 | T–4th | |||||
2010–11 | San Francisco | 19–15 | 10–4 | 3rd | CIT Quarterfinals | ||||
2011–12 | San Francisco | 20–14 | 8–8 | 5th | CBI First Round | ||||
2012–13 | San Francisco | 14–15 | 7–9 | 5th | |||||
2013–14 | San Francisco | 21–12 | 13–5 | 2nd | NIT First Round | ||||
2014–15 | San Francisco | 14–18 | 7–11 | 6th | |||||
2015–16 | San Francisco | 15–15 | 8–10 | 5th | |||||
San Francisco: | 126–125 (.502) | 63–65 (.492) | |||||||
Total: | 157–158 (.498) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
|
References
- ^ "Pistons announce Grand Rapids Drive's new head coach, D-League team's GM". June 29, 2016.
- ^ "Pistons tab a 'basketball junkie' in Rex Walters to coach D-League affiliate Drive".
- ^ "Rex Walters - Men's Basketball Coach". Wake Forest University Athletics. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ^ "Rex Walters - Men's Basketball Coach". University of Nevada Athletics. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ^ Packey (June 30, 2016). "Pistons hire Rex Walters as new coach of Grand Rapids Drive". Detroit Bad Boys. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ^ "Rex Walters - Men's Basketball Coach". Florida Atlantic University Athletics. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ^ "Rex Walters". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
- ^ "Walters Added to Doherty's Staff: Former Kansas and NBA player joins men's basketball staff". CSTV Networks, Inc. April 20, 2005. Retrieved April 21, 2008.
- ^ Hua, Vanessa (April 10, 2006). "Asian American basketball leagues boost game skills and ethnic pride". San Francisco Chronicle. p. A1.
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4b0nLia7c0
- ^ Chu, Bryan (April 14, 2008). "USF Hires Rex Walters". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
- ^ "Walters Dismissed as Head Basketball Coach".
- ^ "Grand Rapids Drive gets new head coach, GM". June 29, 2016.
- ^ "Pistons hire Rex Walters as assistant coach".
- ^ "Pelicans announce 2020-21 coaching staff". NBA.com. November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
External links
- Career statistics from NBA.com and Basketball Reference
- University of San Francisco biography
- Rex Walters at IMDb
- 1970 births
- Living people
- American men's basketball coaches
- American men's basketball players
- American sportspeople of Japanese descent
- Basketball coaches from Nebraska
- Basketball players at the 1993 NCAA Division I Men's Final Four
- Basketball players from Nebraska
- CB Gran Canaria players
- College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
- Detroit Pistons assistant coaches
- Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball coaches
- Grand Rapids Drive coaches
- Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players
- Kansas City Knights players
- Liga ACB players
- Miami Heat players
- Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball coaches
- New Jersey Nets draft picks
- New Jersey Nets players
- New Orleans Pelicans assistant coaches
- Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball players
- Philadelphia 76ers players
- San Francisco Dons men's basketball coaches
- Shooting guards
- Sportspeople from Omaha, Nebraska
- Sportspeople from San Jose, California
- Valparaiso Beacons men's basketball coaches
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball coaches