Walton quietly dominates for men's hoops

I think that if you look closely, you might see John Thompson '88 crying on senior night.

Because if there's one thing you can say about Thompson, it's that he depends on his senior captain, Nate Walton.

It's no accident that he put Walton on the cover of the media guide. Thompson counts on his production, leans on him for his leadership. Walton is the lifeblood of men's basketball, and Thompson knows it.

In my first meeting with Thompson, just weeks after he took over what was left of the basketball team, he told me, "It's Nate's team now, and so far he's showing the leadership we need."

Scanning the headlines, you might think this year belonged to the rookies. It was sophomore Kyle Wente's miracle at Harvard that kept Princeton in the Ivy race. It was freshman Andre Logan and freshman Konrad Wysocki who starred at the Palestra, giving Princeton its short-lived Ivy League lead.

But as always, headlines do not tell the whole story.

With five minutes, 25 seconds left in the game, the Tigers were down by seven and desperate. They had lost the previous night at Dartmouth, and now Harvard was on the verge of sending them to their first winless Ivy weekend in a long, long time. Penn had already won that night — a loss would have dropped Princeton a game behind with the trip to Philadelphia looming.

In an attempt to slow down Harvard's momentum, Thompson pulled his only seniors — C.J. Chapman and Walton — and inserted two freshmen in their place. In a foreign arena packed with fans who smelled blood, Thompson decided to leave the game in the hands of three freshmen, one sophomore, and junior Ahmed El Nokali.

Most coaches would have just taken a timeout.

But somehow, the ruse worked. The rookies whittled the lead down to 65-64 with just 48.7 seconds left. Princeton had possession, and had to make it count.

Now was the critical moment. During the entirety of the comeback, Walton had stayed on the bench. Some would say that a coach should not disturb the chemistry on the floor that produced the comeback. Besides, Wente had the hot hand all game, leading all scorers with 19 at that point in the contest.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

For Thompson, there was no decision.

Walton checked back in.

And as quickly as possible, Walton had the ball in his hands, back to the basket. Walton spun, and his hook shot put the Tigers back on top.

But after Harvard's Dan Clemente answered a few seconds later, it was Wente's three point heave that wrote the headlines. The sophomore's desperation shot won the game, but it would not have happened without the senior's set up.

Forget his leadership. Forget Thompson's endorsement. Forget Walton's experience. The numbers alone tell what kind of season the senior is having.

While the freshmen dominate the media, Walton is quietly leading the Tigers in almost every major statistical category.

Despite being the leading scorer in only two games this season, he leads the Tigers in points per game (9.8).

He is tops in rebounds per game (5.2), and assists per game (4.3). Walton has 81 assists on the year, the next closest Tiger has 43.

His 24 steals are second only to freshman Ed Persia, but his 1.3 steals per game leads the team.

Perhaps most amazing is that Walton leads the team with 32 minutes per game, and he has played in 19 of the Tigers' 21 games.

"It's Nate's team now," Thompson said, "if we can just keep that old body of his from falling apart. I joke with him that he's got a 50 year-old's body."

Injuries are the reason that Walton is the first Tiger to play in five seasons. After only five games his junior year a foot injury ended his season, but the injuries that have haunted him throughout his career have been controlled in his fifth and final season.

If all had gone according to plan, Walton would not be here. But you can be sure that Thompson is glad he is.