Lucas: Quiet Walton Shooting For Success

By Adam Lucas

Kerwin Walton's teammates weren't optimistic about this story.

After each conversation with a member of the freshman class, we'd ask them off the record who would be the toughest of their classmates to interview. Kerwin Walton, a 6-foot-5 freshman from Hopkins, Minnesota, was the unanimous winner.

There were two consistently uniform opinions on Walton from his fellow freshmen: Walton doesn't talk, and Walton can really shoot the basketball.

The latter was easily verifiable. On one day last month, Walton made 133 straight free throws before he left the Smith Center.

"The main thing with shooting is being able to shoot the same way every time," Walton said. "You have to be consistent with your form. Not twisting and turning or always having a different shot each time I shoot. Whether I'm on the move or catching and shooting or shooting off the dribble, the main thing is shooting the exact same way every time."

So with that answer, you've found out his teammates are both right…and wrong. Yes, Walton is a terrific shooter. But he's not at all the completely silent interview subject they made him out to be. Of course, keep in mind that this is not a particularly quiet class overall. It wouldn't take much to be seen as silent when surrounded by Day'Ron Sharpe and RJ Davis.

The freshman laughs when told of his reputation among his teammates.

"I'm just being myself," he says. "I'm usually very laid back. I don't really talk a lot. I'm just being me, I guess. I can be goofy or funny or whatever."

Of course, Walton also knows it won't be his personality that earns him minutes this year for the Tar Heels. And while his reputation is that of a shooter, he also enjoys another aspect of the game that is certain to endear him to Roy Williams.

"I like to take pride in defense," he says. "Just guarding somebody. I definitely want to be known for that, especially in college and hopefully further on. I'm not afraid of anybody."

That's the competitiveness that makes him such a good fit in this class. He knows he needs to improve his athleticism and foot speed in order to successfully defend at the Atlantic Coast Conference level. But the willingness to commit himself to that aspect of the game makes him an attractive prospect.

At least for now, though, it always comes back to that shot. Carolina connected on just 30.4 percent of 595 three-point attempts last season, the lowest figure in program history. Walton is a welcome specialist in an area in which the Tar Heels were deficient.

"I'm used to getting face guarded everywhere I go," Walton says. "So I always try to move without the ball. I try to watch guys who are really good at moving without the ball. That's a skill I'm trying to master."

Since arriving on campus this summer, he's been able to work on the finer points of his game with assistant coach Hubert Davis, who remains one of the best perimeter shooters in program and NBA history. The duo have different shots; Davis had a little more jump in his jump shot, while Walton is more of a low-effort, maximum-repetition shooter.

No matter the mechanical differences, though, they speak the same language of shooting.

"I've been talking to him a lot," Walton says. "We've been doing a lot of shooting off the dribble. We did some catch and shoots. I'm staying focused on keeping the foundations of my shot and not switching up anything that's working. We want to keep it the same as much as possible.

In a way that's slightly reminiscent of a young Marcus Ginyard, Walton says he didn't intensely follow college or pro basketball as a kid. He enjoyed playing the game, but never got caught up in watching others do it. As he's gotten older, however, he's gained an appreciation for the best in basketball, and he understands the privileged position he's earned at North Carolina.

"It's really cool to see the championship banners and the jerseys on the wall," Walton says. "It makes you think you could possibly be on those, especially on a championship banner. That's what is most important to me."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

RJ Davis

Day'Ron Sharpe

Kerwin Walton

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