By: Darryl Jacobs ESPN & CBS Sports activities Networks Analyst/Commentator
Earlier than Caitlin Clark was rewriting document books, earlier than Daybreak Staley turned a family identify, there was Debra Walker—a Detroit powerhouse who left her mark on the sport lengthy earlier than girls’s basketball had the nationwide highlight it instructions right this moment. From dropping 63 factors in a single highschool sport with out a three-point line, to anchoring Cheyney College’s historic run to the primary ever NCAA Girls’s Championship sport in 1982 —the one
HBCU ever to achieve that stage—Walker’s journey is each a Detroit story and an American one.
Immediately, girls’s basketball is experiencing a golden period—record-breaking crowds, multimillion-dollar contracts, and primetime protection. Nonetheless, none of this is able to be potential with out gamers like Walker, who helped pave the way in which. Her relentless work ethic, her management below legendary coach C. Vivian Stringer, and her potential to thrive regardless of restricted sources set the stage for development and respect the ladies’s sport now enjoys.
Greater than 4 a long time later, her identify nonetheless carries weight in gyms, neighborhoods, and amongst those that perceive simply how very important her technology was in laying the inspiration for right this moment’s stars. And now, as a part of the Michigan Chronicle’s “The place Are They Now” sequence, we meet up with Debra Walker to replicate on the legacy, classes, and lasting pleasure of a trailblazer whose story calls for to be remembered.
JACOBS: The place had been you born and raised?
WALKER: I used to be born on the North Finish part of town—1009 East Euclid to be actual. On the age of 5, my mother and father moved to the Conant Backyard part of town. Detroit remains to be house for me.
JACOBS: Talk about a few of your greatest influences rising up.
WALKER: My mother and father had been essentially the most vital affect on me. They’d raised 13 youngsters, plus half of the neighborhood. They instilled in us the values of onerous work, perseverance, and respect for others. They gave us all of the blueprint for fulfillment in life. My brothers and sisters had a major affect on me. My Village was very important in all the things that I did. Cynthia Goodlow, Virginia Lawrence, Dot Felder, Eric Cash, Anthony “Disco” Williamson, and Pierce Berry had been all particular to me.
JACOBS: You attended Detroit Mumford Excessive College. Why did you select to attend?
WALKER: I used to be a mischievous teenager. I began at Detroit Pershing. I acquired caught one time too many within the hallway and was put out. My greatest good friend, Michelle Grier, was at Mumford. It didn’t take a lot convincing for me to enroll at Mumford.
JACOBS: The 1978 Detroit Mumford vs. Detroit Central sport remains to be remembered right this moment as a pivotal second in Detroit’s highschool basketball historical past. What do you recall about that matchup and the general Competitors in Detroit highschool basketball throughout that period?
WALKER: That was a sport the place I used to be in that zone. I keep in mind getting fairly a number of rebounds, however scoring 63 factors in a single sport with out a 3-point line is outstanding. It was a sport that etched its place within the historical past of Detroit highschool basketball. The Competitors was very aggressive all through town. Taking part in and profitable town championship gave you bragging rights for the 12 months.
JACOBS: Averaging 25 factors, 19 rebounds, and eight assists as a senior is outstanding. What drove you to compete at such a excessive stage, and who influenced your sport essentially the most in Detroit?
WALKER: The Williams Sisters from Northeastern Excessive College, Lisa Blackburn, Michelle Grier, and my Godfather, Kevin Porter, had been extra than simply influential figures in my life. They had been instrumental in shaping my sport. Their steerage and mentorship, mixed with numerous hours of follow, laid the inspiration for my success. Michelle and I might journey to town 6 days per week to hoop. The Brewsters, Tindal, Lasky, Lipke, East Facet Heart, and Considine had been out on the playgrounds. We had been at all times on the identical workforce; we’d have misplaced as soon as in three years.
JACOBS: Detroit was the most effective basketball cities within the nation in the course of the Nineteen Seventies. Who had been among the greatest gamers you competed towards in highschool?
WALKER: Bonnie Cannon, Veronica “Boo” Ruff (Highland Park), Lisa Blackburn (Detroit Pershing), Tammy Polk (Detroit Kettering), Carolyn Wright (Pontiac Central)
JACOBS: What finally made you select Cheyney College, and the way did the tradition of an HBCU put together you each on and off the court docket?
WALKER: C. Vivian Stringer, I had a telephone dialog together with her, and I used to be offered. We didn’t discuss a lot about basketball. It was extra about incomes my diploma and reaching success in life. She did say that if I got here to Cheyney, I might have the chance to be part of one thing particular. My mother and father spoke together with her on the identical day, and so they stated that Cheyney State is the place for you. The HBCU expertise is one which, if I needed to make my selection once more, I might select Cheyney. Among the best folks on this earth attended Cheyney throughout my time there. The professors pushed you previous your limits. Being good wasn’t adequate. They made positive that you simply had been ready for the true world. The scholar physique was second to none. Younger folks from everywhere in the world come collectively to help each other of their pursuit of a level. We had essentially the most unbelievable followers. Our fan base was the Dukies (Duke College Followers) earlier than they turned in style.
JACOBS: Throughout your time at Cheyney, the workforce competed towards the nation’s high packages. What was considered one of your most memorable video games or performances in school?
WALKER: Probably the most memorable video games was towards Rutgers at house. Cope held roughly 3000 folks. We had a bitter rivalry on the time. Standing room solely, and the soccer workforce is within the nook rocking that, Jawn. The sport is shut, with the rating fluctuating forwards and backwards all through. The sport is tied, or we’re down by one with about 10 seconds to go; we’ve the ball, so we take a timeout. With no time on the clock, Val Walker, our star participant, hits a protracted jumper from the left aspect, high of the important thing. The ball sails by means of the air, and with an ideal swish, it lands within the web. The group goes wild, and Rutgers goes down in defeat.
JACOBS: In 1982, Cheyney made historical past by reaching the first-ever NCAA Girls’s Championship Sport towards Louisiana Tech. It was a major second as Cheyney stays the one HBCU to play within the title sport. What was it wish to be a part of that transition from AIAW to NCAA, and the way did you and your teammates embrace the second?
WALKER: The transition was clean as a result of Cheyney was invited to the event when the AIAW was the governing physique. When the NCAA took over, we centered on profitable the Nationwide Championship. Coach Vivian Stringer is acknowledged as one of many best coaches within the historical past of girls’s basketball.
JACOBS: What was it wish to play below her management, and the way did she affect your method to basketball and life?
WALKER: Coach Stringer is my GOAT! She was an extension of my mother and father who taught me about life and the expectations of being a terrific individual in addition to an athlete. She stuffed the hole the place my mother and father left off. On daily basis at follow, we acquired a life lesson earlier than we acquired basketball classes. The love and respect had been mutual. She knew the sport and wouldn’t settle for good or common. We needed to be nice as a result of the playing cards had been stacked towards us. We felt disrespected on many ranges and confronted racism on quite a few events. Not solely did we’ve one Naismith Corridor of Famer. We had two: John Chaney was the boys’s coach. We did all the things collectively; we ran the identical performs and employed the identical protection. Since we didn’t have follow gamers, we performed towards one another throughout our follow periods. Important life experiences and basketball had been second to none. Blessed to have been coached by this residing legend. We created a bond on day one, and we promised one another that when the ball stopped bouncing, we might be right here for one another. Promise Saved. Coach Stringer’s affect on my life and profession is immeasurable.
JACOBS: Representing an HBCU on the nationwide stage was a groundbreaking achievement. What distinctive challenges — and sources of pleasure — got here with that have?
WALKER: I keep in mind profitable the Elite Eight sport that despatched us to the Ultimate 4. Because the clock was about to run out, our AD went into shock. He stated, “Oh no, they’re going to win.” He knew that the college didn’t have the cash to get to the ultimate 4. Discussing a problem, however the place there’s a will, there’s a method. After shedding within the championship sport, we acquired on the bus and took the trip again to campus. There have been 2,500 – 3,000 college students on campus. When the bus turned onto campus, each pupil was both on the aspect of the street or hanging out from the completely different dormitories. They had been cheering, clapping, and waving banners. At that second, we realized how proud we had made our pupil physique, college, and workers. That was a Sunday evening, and it was near midnight. We partied till about 4:00 a.m. Within the days to come back, the neighborhood round Cheyney welcomed us. The primary HBCU performed within the first-ever Girls’s NCAA Nationwide Championship sport. There’ll by no means be a prouder second. Wanting again, that historic run was larger than any of us might have imagined.
JACOBS: The 1981–82 Cheyney workforce is now extensively celebrated as trailblazers — what was your position on that squad (on-court place, management position), and do you keep in mind the second the workforce realized it might make a deep nationwide run?
WALKER: We knew coming into the season that we had one thing particular. We had 9 highschool All-Individuals. I used to be the beginning energy ahead in addition to one of many captains. My position was to manage the boards and defend the paint. Often, I used to be allowed to attain. I ended my school profession with over 1,000 rebounds and factors.
JACOBS: The early Nineteen Eighties had been a time of change. The AIAW gave approach to the NCAA within the 1981–82 season. From a participant’s perspective, how did that transition have an effect on your season, event expertise, media publicity, journey, or sense of alternative?
WALKER: There was no impact on us. We performed within the AIAW event the earlier 12 months. Neither took us critically. In 1980-1981, we had been the upper seed and acquired shipped to California. In 1981-1982, we had been on a mission. They may not deny us. They didn’t anticipate us to go so far as we did. In 1982-1983, we had been the primary seed and needed to go on the street to play.
JACOBS: You had been inducted into the American Basketball Corridor of Fame. What does that recognition imply to you?
WALKER: Humbling expertise, honored to be part of one thing so sacred. By no means in my wildest goals might I’ve imagined going right into a Corridor of Fame. It’s at all times good to get flowers earlier than the filth.
JACOBS: right this moment’s girls’s sport, how would you examine it to the basketball you performed, and the variations?
WALKER: Immediately’s sport is general extra aggressive amongst groups. The extent of excellence is refreshing. The sport is quicker now. Seeing the expansion within the sport is rewarding.
JACOBS: What are you doing now?
WALKER: I’m at the moment working as an expediter on the GWY Put up Workplace right here in downtown Detroit, winding down a 40-year postal profession. Lastly, giving myself what I’ve been giving others for many of my grownup life unconditional love and beauty. Wanting ahead to retirement in a 12 months or two. I proceed to mentor and encourage youthful folks.
