Assistant coach Mike Garland and junior guard Travis Walton cheer after a call during the second half against Wisconsin on March 15 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
At 7 a.m. Monday morning, junior guard Travis Walton busted into roommate junior center Goran Suton’s bedroom with his butt down, head up, on the balls of his feet — chopping his legs back and forth to symbolize his defensive stance.
“He woke me up, to say the least,” Suton said. “It’s a thrill to have him as a roommate and a leader. There’s no time off with him — if you think of taking a play off, you’ll get slapped in the face.”
And that’s exactly what Walton is all about, getting in someone’s face in a positive way to improve them as a player and individual.
“That’s his style, that’s who he is,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said with a grin. “That’s why we always clash, because we have the same personalities. I like that, I kinda appreciate that, I understand that. I do that because I figure if I can give it to him a little bit, he better be able to give it back, too.”
As one of the MSU men’s basketball team’s leaders, Walton has gone above and beyond simply being titled “captain.”
He’s become Izzo’s right-hand man during games while on the bench — utilizing his resting periods to be more of a coach than a player, until he checks back in.
“Every player is starting to know that if they don’t live up to what they’re supposed to do, he’s gonna be in their face,” Izzo said. “That makes it even closer to getting a player-coach team here. And when that happens, we’ll go from really good to great.”
Opposing crowds attending the Big Ten Tournament this season even hassled Walton for being vocal to his team, with phrases such as, “Hey MSU, how many coaches do you have down there?”
And to that, he just laughs.
“I wanna be the guy that can get on somebody but, at the same time, I’m gonna tell you when you’re doing something good,” Walton said. “I look at myself as a second coach, other guys look at me as a player-coach, they respect what I say. When you’re in the game, you have to have somebody out there that’s talking — someone who’s gonna be tough through it all.”
And that’s exactly why Izzo and his staff recruited Walton.
“Toughness — we were looking for a guy with some toughness,” Izzo said. “And he answered the bell on that, no problem.”
When freshman guard Kalin Lucas took Walton’s starting spot in the middle of the season, Walton didn’t pout, complain or lose interest — he followed the Charlie Conway effect, in reference to “D2: The Mighty Ducks” when Conway gives up his spot to another player after his injury heals and there isn’t another roster slot open.
“We need him, he’s our key — if we need advice or we don’t know something and we need to know more, he’s the guy we turn to,” Lucas said. “He’s always there for us.”
And while Lucas is on the floor, he’s never out of earshot of Walton and his persistent tips.
“I hear him every time,” he said. “He might tell me on defense, ‘K, K, sit down. Put a hand up!’ Whatever he says or whatever comes out his mouth, we all adjust right away. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
That poses the question — does Walton have a coaching role in the not-so-distant future?
“He definitely would be a great coach,” Izzo said. “I think he’s made more strides this year with his leadership and now he’s taken it off the court and into the hotel and into the locker room.”
Walton said if coaching is what God has in store for him, that’s the pathway he will travel down.
But for now, he focuses a lot of his time helping to pass wisdom on to Lucas and freshmen guards Chris Allen and Durrell Summers.
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“He’s really helped this team progress over the last few weeks — especially this weekend,” senior guard Drew Neitzel said. “He does it all for this team. Whatever he does, playing or coaching, I know he’ll be successful.”
And many teammates feel that his encouraging words lead to production.
“I have my best games when he inspires me,” Suton said. “He told me before the Pitt game, ‘Nobody can stop you, go at them.’ That helps you when you have a good leader. I hope I can live with him again next year.”
