Jacob Walker Quickly Carved Out a Role at Sam Houston, and He Could Do the Same in Stillwater

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STILLWATER — A year ago, Jacob Walker started his college basketball career, taking an offer to play at Sam Houston over offers from Radford, Tennessee State, Jacksonville, Alabama State, Jackson State, Arkansas State and Bradley.

Needless to say, he wasn’t the blue-chip recruit that high-major programs had their eyes on. But a year later, Walker is a high-major player at Oklahoma State.

“I always told myself that if I kept my head down, the sky is the limit,” Walker said Tuesday. “Sam Houston was a great starting point for me. Obviously, I didn’t think it would flip the way that it did. I didn’t think that I would play the amount I did, but obviously God happened and I was able to get out there. …

“It was a rough process starting off because I didn’t know if I’d get out there, I’ll be honest. I didn’t know if I’d have a shot, but like I said, guys trusted me, coaches trusted me. And Coach (Steve) Lutz has trusted me in this recruitment process, and I have teammates that trust me again. So, that’s really what it’s been based around, just having guys around you that trust you. Once you have that the sky’s the limit.”

After being unsure how much he’d play as a true freshman, Walker would go on to become Conference-USA’s Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 11.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists across his first 34 games of college hoops.

A 6-foot-1 point guard, Walker might’ve not played for a high-major team last season, but he did play against a couple.

By Dec. 2 last season, Walker and his Bearkats had already played Texas Tech, Utah and … Oklahoma State.

That game in Stillwater was a bit of a breakout for the freshman guard, as he put up a then-season-high 17 points while going 3-for-6 from 3. Sam Houston would lead Oklahoma State 44-37 at the half before the Cowboys flipped the script in the second.

“I had a solid game,” said Walker, chuckling to Ben Ahmed next to him. “I had a solid game, going all the way in the second half, we thought we were gonna beat y’all. We thought we were gonna win, and then obviously Parsa Fallah happened and Kanye Clary happened. Game got out of hand, and Oklahoma state ended up winning.

“I still think about that. I still think about that game a lot, but it was a good experience. It was a great crowd. I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of because of the fanbase, the coaching staff and obviously the great players they had last year was once again a no-brainer for me.”

Walker was a standout in the Cowboys’ trip to Puerto Rico this summer. He scored in double figures in all three games and went 4-for-10 from 3-point range while also averaging three assists a contest. He had 14 points and six assists in the final game, going 2-for-3 from 3.

With so many new pieces on this OSU roster, who knows what Lutz’s rotations will look like come the end of the year, but Walker spoke at length Tuesday of how together he felt this team was. And after quickly working his way from unknown freshman to his conference’s Sixth Man of the Year, Walker knows what it takes to carve out a role.

“I played defense to get on the court at Sam Houston,” Walker said. “I couldn’t get on early. Had a lot of turnover issues. I wasn’t shooting the ball the best. Obviously, defense turned it around for me, and then coach trusted me with the ball more and I was able to show that I can play too.”