Darrell Walker

Darrell Walker is in his third season as Little Rock's head basketball coach and is already causing programs across the country to take notice.

Walker brings to Little Rock extensive basketball experience at both the collegiate and professional level. His playing experience includes three years at the University of Arkansas and 10 seasons in the National Basketball Association, followed by a 20-year professional coaching career, including serving as head coach for two different NBA franchises.

He boasts the distinction of being the only active coach with head coaching experience at the NBA, WNBA, Division II and Division I levels.

In his second season at the helm of the Trojans, Walker guided Little Rock to one of the top turnarounds in the nation. After finishing the 2018-19 season with a 10-21 mark, and picked to finish 11th in the Sun Belt preseason poll, Walker guided Little Rock to the outright Sun Belt Conference regular season title with a 21-10 record, including going 15-5 in conference play. The turnaround garnered Walker Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors, becoming just the fourth Trojan head coach to earn that accolade.

Under Walker's guidance, Little Rock saw Ruot Monyyong named the Sun Belt's Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, as well as being named a Lefty Driesell Defensive All-American. Markquis Nowell was named a first team All-Sun Belt selection, earning All-District and All-Region honors before being named a Lou Henson All-American. It marked the first time in program history two Trojans earned All-America honors in the same season.

Little Rock set a new program record with five Sun Belt Player of the Week honors, including three from Nowell and two from Kamani Johnson, who finished the season a third team All-Sun Belt selection. Walker's Trojans were especially tough at home, finishing the 2019-20 season with a 13-2 mark at the Jack Stephens Center, tied for the second-most home victories since the facility opened in 2005.

In his first season as a Division I head coach (2018-19), Walker guided Little Rock to a 10-21 overall record as the Trojans dropped a handful of heartbreaking losses during the course of the season. The year was highlighted by Rayjon Tucker being named a second team All-Sun Belt selection as he currently represents Little Rock in the NBA, signing a multi-year deal with the Utah Jazz in December of 2019. Prior to coming to Little Rock, Walker spent two seasons as the head coach at Clark Atlanta University, compiling an overall record of 45-18 and leading the Panthers to back-to-back NCAA Division II tournament appearances.

In 2017-18, Walker guided the Panthers to a 25-6 mark, including a 16-3 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) record, finishing second in the SIAC East division. Clark Atlanta advanced to the SIAC tournament title game, falling to Claflin. In his first season in Atlanta (2016-17), Walker’s Panthers went 21-12 and 12-5 in SIAC play, tying for first in the SIAC East. Clark Atlanta captured the 2017 SIAC tournament title, downing Fort Valley State 64-62 in the championship game.

His time in Atlanta marked Walker’s first collegiate coaching experience following 20 years of coaching professionally. Walker served as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors from 1996-98 and the Washington Wizards in 2000, tallying 56 career victories at the NBA level. Walker also spent time as the head coach of the Rockford Lightning of the Continental Basketball Association and the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. He served as an assistant coach in the NBA for the Toronto Raptors (1995-96), New Orleans Hornets (2004-08), Detroit Pistons (2008-11) and New York Knicks (2012-14).

A native of Chicago, Walker played one season at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith before spending three seasons at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Under Hall of Fame head coach Eddie Sutton, Walker amassed 1,325 points, ranking 18th all-time on the Razorback scoring list, while ranking fourth in program steals (230) and sixth in free throws made (524).

He was named a second team All-American and a first team NABC All-District selection in 1983, helping Arkansas reach the Sweet 16 in both 1981 and 1983. Walker was the two-time Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year, being named to the 1983 NABC All-Star game. Walker was the 12th overall pick by the New York Knicks in the 1983 NBA Draft, beginning a 10-year NBA career in which he suited up for five different teams. Walker averaged 8.9 points, 4.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game during his professional career, playing for NBA Hall of Fame coaches Hubie Brown, Wes Unseld, Chuck Daly and Phil Jackson.

He was named to the 1984 NBA All-Rookie Team and nearly averaged a triple-double in 1989-90 in Washington, averaging 9.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game. He closed out his playing career as a member of the NBA champion Chicago Bulls in 1993.

Walker earned his degree in human resources from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 and was enshrined into the University of Arkansas Hall of Honor in 2008. He and his wife Lisa, a former All-American sprinter at Arkansas, hold a unique distinction as well as the only husband-wife tandem inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame.