ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997 TAG: 9702210040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
When Anthony Walker signed to play college basketball, he asked for uniform No. 24.
Told it was taken at Radford University, Walker said, "I don't want a number then.''
So, for four seasons, Walker has worn No. 0. There are numbers he owns that other Highlanders can't touch.
Radford coach Ron Bradley can't quite bring himself to make the statement Walker's career seems to have made. "He has had the best all-around year, this season, of anyone'' in Bradley's six seasons, the coach said.
That's Dr. Bradley, conservative as always. The versatile Columbus, Ohio, native has been the best player in Highlander hoops history.
He's not the best scorer. That was Blacksburg's Doug Day, in the prior four years. Walker, even on his two injured feet, does more.
Walker is second in career scoring, first in assists and has a shot at the top spot in steals. "Anthony's focus, his trying to will us to victory, is what really sets him apart,'' Bradley said.
"What I'd really like,'' Walker said, "is to be on the first team here to win the Big South [Conference tournament title]. My years here have been very satisfying, yet disappointing in a way. The disappointment is that we don't have a title I feel we should already have.''
Walker - averaging a team-leading 15.7 points and 4.9 assists per game - and his fellow seniors make their final Dedmon Center appearance Saturday night against rival Liberty, with the Big South tournament ahead next week in Lynchburg.
"We've reached the point (14-11) where you have to dig,'' Walker said. "A game in a tournament somewhere is going to be the end for us. It's sort of like `kill or be killed.'''
Bradley saw early what Walker could bring to his program. In the guard's first month as a college starter as a freshman, Walker scored 39 points against George Mason, then was the clock-controlling ballhandler in what still is the stunner in Highlanders history, a victory at LSU. Walker, with 1,560 points, is only the second four-year starter in school history.
He just didn't expect to succeed so far from home. As a senior at Linden McKinley High in Columbus, Walker was being recruited primarily by home state schools in the Mid-American Conference. He didn't reach the required standardized test score for a grant, however.
"I'd never heard of Radford, well, barely,'' Walker said. "I used to go to games at Ohio State as a kid, and Radford played at St. John Arena one time.''
He got recruiting mail from Radford. He just didn't open it. Then, rather than go to junior college, Walker chose prep school at Hargrave Military Academy.
Bradley and his assistants saw Walker practice there, mostly in Hargrave's patient, flex offense, which didn't tell them much - except that Walker had more than quickness.
The guard became the Big South Rookie of the Year in 1993-94 and made all-conference the following season. His numbers slipped last season. "I didn't reach a level of play I expected last year,'' he said.
Walker's' final season has been one he never will forget. Four days before Christmas, he had a homecoming when Radford played at Ohio U. Before 85 family members and friends, Walker scored 20 points, but the Highlanders lost.
"That game, for me, seemed like I was playing for a championship,'' he said.
It also was the last time he saw his father. Charles Walker, 57, with polio and a heart condition, died Jan.4.
"It was very tough, and I thought about it a lot because my dad and I didn't have a real tight father-son relationship,'' said Walker, whose parents were divorced. "I think I played a lot differently when I first came back. It just hung with me.
"I finally told myself I was part of my dad, and he knew I was playing, so I should just go out there and play the game like I could.''
So, he has. He's gotten feelers about playing in the postseason Portsmouth Invitational Tournament for pro hopefuls and Bradley will call CBA contacts to see if someone needs a guard who really knows how to play the game.
Walker may not be getting shots from Dick Vitale, but in the small world of the Big South, he is mentioned on a higher plane. His number makes him "The Big O'' on campus. His rivals call him something else.
"When Liberty gets ready to play us,'' Bradley said, "[coach] Jeff Meyer tells his players they have to prepare for the `Michael Jordan of the Big South.'''
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Walkerby CNB