NEW YORK — Tyson Walker’s debut for Michigan State
basketball came at a memorable place but with a forgettable first impression. In what could be his final days — perhaps weeks — as a Spartan, the change in Walker from that Champions Classic loss to Kansas to open last season to who will lead MSU back into Madison Square Garden and the Sweet 16 on Thursday is apparent. No longer a mid-major player trying to show he belongs at a blueblood, the senior guard from nearby Westbury, New York, is ready to show the Big
Apple just how much he’s grown in 16 months. “From that game last year, that wasn't who I was as a player. I was just timid,” Walker said Wednesday in the locker room. “But just now, I'm just back to who I am — I'm scoring, I'm playing defense and passing the ball. Just being a player.” Walker and the seventh-seeded Spartans (21-12) take on No. 3 seed Kansas State (25-9) in the East Region semifinal Thursday night . It expects to be a long way away in the same building from Walker’s performance against the Jayhawks on Nov. 9, 2021: two points on 1 of 3 shooting, no 3-point attempts, three assists, three turnovers and four fouls in 20 minutes. JEFF SEIDEL: The one thing that unites MSU's Tom Izzo, Tigers' A.J. Hinch His development since showed how much he has adjusted to the speed of high-major guards, making opponents the ones struggling to chase him around the court. Since moving off the ball mainly to let Hoggard run the point, Walker leads MSU with 14.6 points a game, but he's posted 11 straight double-digit scoring games since scoring nine in a Jan. 29 loss at Purdue. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound combo guard is averaging 19.0 points and
shooting 52.7% over his last seven games, including 44.4% from beyond the arc, while adding 3.6 assists and 2.9 rebounds in that span. “He's got one
Job out there, make shots, score the ball,” said Hoggard, who has known Walker since fourth grade. “I'll put everybody else in position to make shots.” Walker transferred to MSU after two stellar seasons at Northeastern, where he averaged 18.8 points, 4.8 assists and 2.4 steals as a sophomore in 2020-21 en route to the Colonial Athletic Association defensive player of the year and first-team all-conference honors. He wanted the chance to challenge himself at the highest level of college basketball when he entered the transfer portal, and the Spartans were looking for a point guard after struggles at the position all that season. But upon arriving at MSU, the former three-star recruit — who played against elite competition at
New York City powerhouse Christ the King high school — struggled early on in adjusting to the size and talent differential between his lower-level competition and the Big Ten and the loaded national schedule. Walker showed flashes in splitting point guard duties with Hoggard, posting 8.2 points with a personal-best 4.3 assists per game. Walker took 31 fewer shots than he did in his final season at Northeastern, making a career-low 42.7% overall but shooting a team-leading 47.3% from 3-point range. This season, Walker emerged as MSU’s go-to scorer. He’s shooting 46.2% overall and 40.7% from deep, hitting timely 3-pointers and using dribble penetration to get pull-up jumpers over guards or blowing by them to the rim and scoring over big men deep in the paint. SHAWN WINDSOR: This MSU team is a perfect validation of all of Tom Izzo's beliefs “He picks his spots so well. Honestly, that's what he does. He gets to his spot,” senior Joey Hauser said of Walker. “And it's tough when you're not the biggest guy on the court, but he does it. Man, it's unbelievable. He breaks down his defenders to get to his mid-range to get to his step back or get to the rim. And the way he finishes around the rim is better than anyone I've seen or anyone I've played with. “Just his development and his confidence in what he's done, he's probably one of the more confident players that I've ever been around.” Walker will likely match up against the Wildcats’ star, Markquis Nowell, who like him is a defensive and offensive juggernaut. The 5-8, 160-pound Harlem native began his career at Arkansas-Little Rock before transferring to Kansas State, and he was named first-team All-Big 12 this season and to the league’s all-defensive squad. A third-team All-American and Bob Cousy Award finalist as one of the nation’s top point guards, Nowell averages 17.1 points, 7.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds a game. Walker said he played against Nowell as a sophomore and junior in high school, and Nowell gushed over his fellow NYC guard. “I grew up playing in parks with him. I just want to give a big shout out to
New York City for breeding tough and gritty guards and just give him a shout-out,” Nowell said. “We are rivals, but we grew up playing against each other. And when we step on the court, it's going to be nothing but competition.” The type of challenge MSU coach Tom Izzo says Walker embraces. “He's not from the heart of the city, but he does have that swagger about him,” Izzo said of Walker. “I think sometimes the New York swagger is a very cocky swagger, and sometimes that's good. He's kind of had the happy medium. He's got enough cockiness to be confident, and yet he's an unbelievable kid. THE BRIGHT LIGHTS: MSU's next challenge: Fix shooting vs. good defense in tough place to play “At his size, he wants to guard you, but he also wants to take big shots. He's the best two-way player I've had probably since Gary (Harris), where he can do it on both ends, and that's so valuable to a team. And it's so good to be able to tell other scorers that he can get you 30 on some nights and he can shut down the other players.” Said freshman backup point guard Tre Holloman: “Tyson can do it all. He can guard, he can score, he can handle the ball. Tyson has been great for us. When we need a big shot, Tyson comes through. When we need a stop, Tyson comes through.” Walker could opt to come back to MSU for his fifth year of eligibility thanks to the COVID waiver, but he has not said yet if he plans to do that or pursue a pro path. His former Christ the King teammate, Jose Alvarado, is in the NBA. Yet Hoggard added that Walker “is back to the Tyson I've known forever. He's just more comfortable.” Except when it comes to talking off the court. A number of New York media asked Walker about his homecoming, and he brusquely brushed off almost every question. Until one reporter brought up a quote Walker gave during his Christ the King days, one that fits what this MSU team has shown the past week-plus. “It was the will to not want to go home,” according to
USA Today High School Sports in 2018. “I did not want this to be my last game today, and that’s what it was, just the will to win.” When he heard his words from just over five years ago, Walker’s eyes grew wide and he couldn’t believe he was hearing them repeated back to him. Inside Madison Square Garden. With the Spartans facing a win-or-go-home moment in a little over 24 hours. “I feel like the season has flew by, so we don't want this to be our last game,” Walker echoed Wednesday. “You still want to have more practices, still want to be able to play another game.” Beat Nowell and Kansas State, and Walker and MSU can do just that on Saturday. Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com . Follow him on
Twitter @chrissolari . Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter. Next up: Wildcats Matchup: No. 7 seed Michigan State (21-12) vs. No. 3 seed Kansas State (25-9), NCAA tournament East region Sweet 16. Tipoff: 6:30 p.m. Thursday; Madison Square Garden, New York. TV/radio: TBS; WJR-AM (760). At stake: Winner faces Thursday’s winner between Tennessee and
Florida Atlantic on Saturday for a spot in the Final Four.