DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — Rodney Walker is back at St. Teresa High School, this time as head basketball coach, decades after starring there as a player.
Walker played his freshman year at Eisenhower High School before transferring to St. Teresa, where he went on to score roughly 1,300 points in two seasons. He spent the last decade coaching at Eisenhower before returning to St. Teresa.
Walker says the first day he walked into St. Teresa with his mom, he knew his life was going to change.
"Me and my mom walked up those stairs on the west side of the building, and we went in there and met with the principal, and he drilled me like crazy with all types of questions and saying, 'Rodney, why are you coming over here? And what do you expect out of St. Teresa?' [He was] just making sure that I wasn't coming over there just for sports, which I wasn't. I needed to make a change at that time." Smiling, Walker recalled, "I remember walking out [of the] office, going back down the stairs, looking at my mom, and she looked at me after she had wrote the check and said, 'Play time is over, boy. I don't want to see no F's, I don't want to see no D's. It's time to get to business.' So I knew right then, and there I was turning things around because I didn't want to let my mother down."
Walker still remembers losing in the state playoffs on the road at Monticello.
"We were supposed to win a regional. Supposed to go to state [in 1991]," he said. "I used to say, man, every time I drive by, I always look at Monticello, and I shake my head. This is about the closest I may ever get to go in the U of I and play in state."
After his time at St. Teresa, Walker went on to play basketball at Glen Oaks Junior College, before choosing New Mexico State over the University of Illinois. He played in the NCAA Tournament with the Aggies, and then spent a decade playing professionally overseas before returning to Decatur.
His path back to St. Teresa, he said, was unplanned.
"It's funny how it just happened. It wasn't planned. That's the good thing about it — that's why it's so special," Walker said. "It all worked out at the right time. And timing is everything."
Walker said his focus is on getting players to buy into a system while keeping the experience enjoyable.
"Once you get the kids to believe and buy into the system, there's nothing they won't do for you," Walker said. "You have to make sure they have fun at the same time. Every kid is wired differently, but at the end of the day, we're all collectively shooting for one goal, and that's to turn things around."
Walker said he wants the school to believe they can win at a high level.
"They've been to state, but they didn't win," Walker said. "I don't want people to get excited about just going to state. Forget about going to state. Let's go to win."
Beyond coaching, Walker operates Skywalker International Sports Complex in Decatur, which he described as an extension of his mentorship work with local youth.
"I want them to be able to look at me and say, 'Rodney's done this, he's opened up a gym, he's got a restaurant, he works in Chicago, he's played all over the country,'" Walker said. "Hopefully they look at me as inspiration."
Walker said he wants his players to carry lessons from his program beyond basketball.
"I want them to be able to leave me and feel like they can tackle anything," Walker said. "If they get through our program, any obstacle that they come to in life is nothing for them. If they can get through our system, get through our conditioning, get through our work, they'll have a different mindset, not just on the court, but off the court."
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