RIP Winfred Walton

[RF2044]

I'm sure that there are a lot of posters who don't remember [or weren't around to remember] how offensively gifted Walton was -- here are his clips from the 1996 McD's all american game:


No wonder our fanbase was so excited... and so devastated when he was declared ineligible at the 11th hour.

 

[PhatOrange]

Well thats sad news. To this day he was one of the very best high school hoopers I ever saw. He was a prop 48 here his first year and that’s all she wrote. Dam shame.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Dick_in_MI]

After he committed to SU, I watched a couple of his high school games that were televised here. He reminded me of the forbidden love child of Louis Orr and DC. I was absolutely convinced that he was our next great power forward but it never happened. He was a shadow of his former self at Fresno State.

 

[Cusefan78]

I took my sat test right next to him. Rip.

 

[rhcuse]

Look at the arms and shoulders on these guys! Why has our roster been filled with twigs for the last 10 years?

 

[CusefanATL]

I took my sat test right next to him. Rip.

i cant tell if this is a joke or if its serious.

 

[Cusefan78]

i cant tell if this is a joke or if its serious.

Nope I’m serious. He sat directly to my right. He was super nice. Was signing autographs for anyone who asked.

 

[PeteCalvin]

Tark brought in some real filth to that Fresno State program. Avondre Jones and Kenny Brunner come to mind.

Fresno State was the worst place he could have gone. Back on the old AOL board I recall hearing that Walton’s mom was pissed at SU and JB for not “doing more” to get him eligible, and she was the one who ultimately talked him into transferring. I heard JB tried to explain the situation and told her the best thing for him to do was stay in school at SU and wait it out for the year, if necessary, as they kept working on it. She was having none of it.

It’s really sad, actually. I’m sure JB and the university would have kept fighting to try and get him eligible. We had just come off probation a couple years earlier and were in no place to ‘poke the bear’, so to speak.

He should have taken the punishment and stayed with JB. He would have been better off in the long run, especially having Blackwell here to help as he was sitting out as a transfer. Fresno was NOT a good environment for Walton.

 

[RF2044]

Fresno State was the worst place he could have gone. Back on the old AOL board I recall hearing that Walton’s mom was pissed at SU and JB for not “doing more” to get him eligible, and she was the one who ultimately talked him into transferring. I heard JB tried to explain the situation and told her the best thing for him to do was stay in school at SU and wait it out for the year, if necessary, as they kept working on it. She was having none of it.

It’s really sad, actually. I’m sure JB and the university would have kept fighting to try and get him eligible. We had just come off probation a couple years earlier and were in no place to ‘poke the bear’, so to speak.

He should have taken the punishment and stayed with JB. He would have been better off in the long run, especially having Blackwell here to help as he was sitting out as a transfer. Fresno was NOT a good environment for Walton.

Truthfully, I don't think there was anything SU could do.

We didn't accept academic non-qualifiers, so he wasn't eligible for a scholarship. The Walton family didn't have the financial wherewithal to pay for school out of pocket as a non-scholarship recipient, so that was that.

Agree 100% about Fresno State -- lack of structure was clearly not in this kid's best interest. He could and should have been a pro. Instead, he got fat and his potential got wasted.

 

[orangefog]

Fresno State was the worst place he could have gone. Back on the old AOL board I recall hearing that Walton’s mom was pissed at SU and JB for not “doing more” to get him eligible, and she was the one who ultimately talked him into transferring. I heard JB tried to explain the situation and told her the best thing for him to do was stay in school at SU and wait it out for the year, if necessary, as they kept working on it. She was having none of it.

It’s really sad, actually. I’m sure JB and the university would have kept fighting to try and get him eligible. We had just come off probation a couple years earlier and were in no place to ‘poke the bear’, so to speak.

He should have taken the punishment and stayed with JB. He would have been better off in the long run, especially having Blackwell here to help as he was sitting out as a transfer. Fresno was NOT a good environment for Walton.

He would definitely have been better off being around guys like Etan and Jason Hart, rather than Kenny Brunner and the rest of the degenerates at Fresno State.

 

[PeteCalvin]

He would definitely have been better off being around guys like Etan and Jason Hart, rather than Kenny Brunner and the rest of the degenerates at Fresno State.

Still can’t believe that Brunner and his roommate robbed their pizza delivery guy with a samurai sword. That is epitome of GTown crossed with Tark. LOL!

Guess they thought the pizza guy wouldn’t report them. Numbskulls.