By John Willkom
(August 11, 2023)

In the spring of my senior year of high school, I signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at the University of Minnesota Crookston, a Division Two school in the Northern Sun Conference. It was a dream come true for me: the opportunity to attend college on a basketball scholarship.

Fast forward a year later, and we had just concluded a 4-23 season. I was 9 hours from home, and while I played meaningful minutes as a freshman, my experience that first year wasn’t quite what I hoped it would be.

I decided to transfer closer to home, focus on school, and give up basketball. My father had attended Marquette in the 1970’s and was a student there when they won their first and only men’s basketball national championship in 1977. As a kid, the only time I was allowed to stay up late on a weeknight was when Marquette was on TV. I heard stories about Al McGuire, Rick Majerus, and Bo Elllis, and the school stood on a pedestal in my mind. If I was going to attend school just for “school,” that’s where I wanted to be.

About a month went by, and although I said I was done with basketball, I just couldn’t let it go. I wrote then head coach, Tom Crean, an email and expressed my interest in helping the program in any capacity: team manager, video guy, office staff, whatever. It didn’t matter; I just wanted to be around the team. To my surprise, he responded and said the best next step would be to come down to Milwaukee, work summer camps, and assimilate myself to how they did things. There was no “job offer” or guarantee of any kind.

I spent the summer working camps, and at the end of each day, Marquette players, coaches, and coaches working the camp would often scrimmage. On one court would be the “A Game”: current and former players going at it. Every other court was a mix of guys from young to old: some trying to be heroes and others enjoying each lap up and down the court. I loved the energy, and each day I’d join whatever team needed a guy. Assistant coach Brian Wardle, now the head coach at Bradley, would often ask me to play. As the summer went on, I not only played a lot, but I was playing in more competitive games, and often matched up against current MU players.

As luck would have it, Wardle approached me one night as I was putting my shoes in my backpack and offered me an opportunity: walk-on tryouts start in a month when school starts, and we’d like to have you participate.

Again, no guarantees or offers, just an opportunity.

I spent the next month in my hometown putting myself through three a days: a combination of basketball workouts, conditioning, and strength training. It was August in Wisconsin, temperatures in the 90’s, and my only thought was: this is your shot, give it all you’ve got.

I’d spend the 2004-2005 season as a walk-on at Marquette, guarding All-American point guard, Travis Diener, daily, and learning from one of the best coaching staffs in the country. There were days when I’d literally collapse after strength & conditioning sessions, only to find myself miraculously practicing an hour later. I’d mimic upcoming opponents as a part of our scout team: one week, I’d be a pass first point guard. The next, a three-point gunner with a constant green light.

As the season progressed, things were happening to me that I wanted to remember. We had guest speakers at practice, Nike reps showing off new gear that we were going to receive, and celebrities in the building that wanted to play HORSE.

I kept a journal to reflect on each day: the good, the bad, and everything in between. As college came and went, occasionally I’d go back to that journal to reminisce.

13 years later, I moved to Portland, OR, with my fiancé (and now wife) for her medical residency. I took a new job in ecommerce, and as anyone that’s familiar with medical residencies, started to realize that not seeing my fiancé would become the norm for the next three years.

I’d come home from work, make dinner, workout, and watch games like every other guy in America. But, as time passed and the games blended together, I kept thinking to myself: there has to be a better way to use this time.

One night, I pulled up those old journal files and read them all. The next night, I started writing. A year later, I would publish a book called Walk-On Warrior: a culmination of my journey up to that point, my love for the game, and stories from both my time at Marquette as a player and my reflection on it now as a grown man in his 30’s.

From my experience as a walk-on, the advice I would offer for coaches falls into 3 buckets:

• Trust: My best experiences, performances, and outcomes as a player were for coaches that I loved. These were guys that got to know me, understood what drove me, and were willing to share those same things back with me. There are no drills, x’s and o’s, or game plans that can overcome poor relationships. Over invest in getting to know your players, and when things get tough, it’s that bond that will ultimately carry you both.
• Organization: Everything we did at Marquette had a purpose. We didn’t run sprints during practice because we could get our conditioning in via the drills. Think about how you can drive efficiency in your practice. Next, think about why you do what you do. Does it lever up to the philosophies that you’re preaching? Coaching a team is like a giant spider web: everything should connect and lever up to how you’re trying to play. If you don’t want your center taking three-point shots, stop spending time having him shoot them in practice.

• Expectations: Going undefeated probably isn’t realistic for a team that won 4 games the previous year. Shooting 45% from three isn’t realistic for a player that shot 25% last year. You have to set realistic goals for your team and your players and then SHOW them what improvement looks like. It could be effort things like: you had the opportunity to go after 20 rebounds last game. Of those, you actually put a body on somebody 10 times. Let’s go and practice with an emphasis on boxing out every time a shot goes up. Another scenario would be pick and roll offense: your ball-handler was in 20 pick and rolls last game. Of those, he/she made the correct read 12 times. Let’s practice that decision making so we’re getting the highest percentage plays for our team.  I see too many coaches yelling at players in games for things that they can’t consistently do in practice

Coaches have the ability to change lives, and I’m certainly a testament to that. More broadly, staying connected to a sport that you’re passionate about is good for the soul. Whether that’s through coaching, writing, training, etc., it’s a privilege to be able to share that passion with others.

For more information on my book, Walk-On Warrior, please check it out on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2zL66h3 

I also wrote a second book called No Fear In The Arena, which I published in December and is available here: https://amzn.to/3Yv1PaO