Winfred Walton | Syracusefan.com

Winfred Walton

Vshukla

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Winfred Walton has always been one of the great “What ifs” in my mind. Did anyone actually see him play? I know he was very highly rated and was considered a major recruiting coup for us. DC compared him to Billy and Melo, and on Wallace’s podcast Etan raved about him. Heck we even gave him #44.

I’m not going to get into the reasons he didn’t make it to SU, but I was curious what people who saw him thought. The numbers for his one season at Fresno were mediocre then he faded away. Was his performance at Fresno due to rust, conditioning, attitude, Tark’s so called coaching, or was he just not as good as he was hyped to be?

If he had made it to SU, how good could he and we have been? The years post Wallace had some good players and good teams, would he have been a difference maker?

Ah what might have been…..
 
I believe that had Winfred stayed here he would have been a future pro and would have had a great career here, although I think he would have left after a year or two for the NBA. I remember watching him in the McDonald’s game and Magic Roundball Classic and he dominated. He had an inside outside game and could even hit the 3. He got out of shape during the time he sat out before playing at Fresno St. He definitely is an example of wasted talent.
 
I believe that had Winfred stayed here he would have been a future pro and would have had a great career here, although I think he would have left after a year or two for the NBA. I remember watching him in the McDonald’s game and Magic Roundball Classic and he dominated. He had an inside outside game and could even hit the 3. He got out of shape during the time he sat out before playing at Fresno St. He definitely is an example of wasted talent.
Yeah, he looked insanely good in the McDonald's game. I agree that he would have been a force here and likely would have gone on to the NBA. The year out of competitive basketball definitely hurt him.

Found this video:

 
Hello, NCAA?
Is it probation time again if he plays?


"Walton twice failed to gain the minimum score for freshman eligibility on the ACT before getting a 1,090 on the SAT in May. His 370-point improvement raised questions about the test. Walton retook the SAT last week. His score was kept confidential."
 
Winfred Walton has always been one of the great “What ifs” in my mind. Did anyone actually see him play? I know he was very highly rated and was considered a major recruiting coup for us. DC compared him to Billy and Melo, and on Wallace’s podcast Etan raved about him. Heck we even gave him #44.

I’m not going to get into the reasons he didn’t make it to SU, but I was curious what people who saw him thought. The numbers for his one season at Fresno were mediocre then he faded away. Was his performance at Fresno due to rust, conditioning, attitude, Tark’s so called coaching, or was he just not as good as he was hyped to be?

If he had made it to SU, how good could he and we have been? The years post Wallace had some good players and good teams, would he have been a difference maker?

Ah what might have been…..


Yeah, he wound up playing a season at Fresno State.

I watched a couple of his games out of curiosity, what might have been. And of course his high school all star games.


He was talented offensively, athletic, an agile big man. His upside could have been another Glenn Robinson or Chris Webber type of player. He never really got it together, though.

Here's one of his games at Fresno State.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=681_XP7hMaE
 
I remember him being the highest rated guy in that class, something like 9th. At the time it was cool to think that a basketball version of the 44 tradition was being established.
 

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