Rex Walters

Rex Andrew Walters (born March 12, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1][2] Previously, he was the men's basketball coach at the University of San Francisco. Walters played college basketball at Northwestern and Kansas and played professionally for ten years, including seven seasons in the NBA from 1993 to 2003.

Rex Walters
Walters encouraging the team in 2009
New Orleans Pelicans
PositionAssistant coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1970-03-12) March 12, 1970
Omaha, Nebraska
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High schoolPiedmont Hills (San Jose, California)
College
NBA draft1993 / Round: 1 / Pick: 16th overall
Selected by the New Jersey Nets
Playing career1993–2003
PositionShooting guard
Number2, 3, 23
Coaching career2003–present
Career history
As player:
1993–1995New Jersey Nets
1995–1998Philadelphia 76ers
1998–2000Miami Heat
2000Baloncesto León
2000–2001Kansas City Knights
2001–2002CB Gran Canaria
2002–2003Kansas City Knights
As coach:
2003–2005Valparaiso (assistant)
2005–2006Florida Atlantic (assistant)
2006–2008Florida Atlantic
2008–2016San Francisco
2016–2017Grand Rapids Drive
2017–2018Detroit Pistons (assistant)
2018–2019Nevada (special assistant)
2019–2020Wake Forest (assistant)
2020–presentNew Orleans Pelicans (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

  • WCC Coach of the Year (2014)
Career NBA statistics
Points1,547 (4.6 ppg)
Rebounds403 (1.2 rpg)
Assists569 (1.7 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Biography

Born in Omaha, Nebraska on March 12, 1970, Walters played high school basketball at Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, California, but graduated from Independence High School in San Jose, California.[3] Walters played at Northwestern University before transferring to the University of Kansas, where he helped lead the Jayhawks to the Final Four in 1993. During his time at Kansas he was coached by Roy Williams. The 6'4" (1.93 m) shooting guard was selected by the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets with the 16th pick in the 1993 NBA draft. Walters played in the league from 1993 until 2000. He was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in his third season and he also played briefly with the Miami Heat. After leaving the NBA, Walters played for León and Gran Canaria in Spain.[4] In addition to his playing career, Walters had a minor role in the 1994 film Blue Chips.

Walters is biracial; his mother is Japanese and his father is white.[5] In an interview with Rick Quan, Rex Walters responded to the question of feeling that he was a pioneer for Asian Americans. He responded: "I consider myself Japanese-American. I just don't look it. People are always surprised. Now we got a guy like Jeremy Lin breaking barriers, I'd like to think I played a small part in that". He later added, "People ask me who I am? What I am? I am a Japanese-American, I take great pride in that."[6]

Coaching career

From 2006 to 2008, Walters served as the men's basketball coach at Florida Atlantic University. From 2008 to 2016 he was the head basketball coach at the University of San Francisco.[7]

In 2014, Walters was named WCC Coach of the Year by his coaching peers. He finished his University of San Francisco coaching career with a 126–125 overall record in 2016, including a 63–65 mark in West Coast Conference games.[8] On June 29, 2016, Walters was named the head coach of the Grand Rapids Drive.[9] On July 1, 2017 Walters was named an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons.[10]

On November 16, 2020, Walters was hired as assistant coach by the New Orleans Pelicans.[11]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Florida Atlantic Owls (Sun Belt Conference) (2006–2008)
2006–07 Florida Atlantic 16–1510–83rd (East)
2007–08 Florida Atlantic 15–188–104th (East)
Florida Atlantic: 31–33 (.484)18–18 (.500)
San Francisco Dons (West Coast Conference) (2008–2016)
2008–09 San Francisco 11–193–117th
2009–10 San Francisco 12–187–7T–4th
2010–11 San Francisco 19–1510–43rdCIT Quarterfinals
2011–12 San Francisco 20–148–85thCBI First Round
2012–13 San Francisco 14–157–95th
2013–14 San Francisco 21–1213–52ndNIT First Round
2014–15 San Francisco 14–187–116th
2015–16 San Francisco 15–158–105th
San Francisco: 126–125 (.502)63–65 (.492)
Total:157–158 (.498)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References
  1. http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2016/06/pistons_announce_grand_rapids.html
  2. http://www.nba.com/pistons/features/pistons-tab-basketball-junkie-rex-walters-coach-d-league-affiliate-drive/
  3. "Rex Walters". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
  4. "Walters Added to Doherty's Staff: Former Kansas and NBA player joins men's basketball staff". CSTV Networks, Inc. April 20, 2005. Retrieved April 21, 2008.
  5. Hua, Vanessa (April 10, 2006). "Asian American basketball leagues boost game skills and ethnic pride". San Francisco Chronicle. p. A1.
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4b0nLia7c0
  7. Chu, Bryan (April 14, 2008). "USF Hires Rex Walters". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
  8. http://www.usfdons.com/news/2016/3/9/mens-basketball-walters-dismissed-as-mens-head-basketball-coach-Walters-USF.aspx
  9. http://woodtv.com/2016/06/29/grand-rapids-drive-gets-new-head-coach-gm/
  10. http://www.wnem.com/story/35783141/pistons-hire-rex-walters-as-assistant-coach
  11. "Pelicans announce 2020-21 coaching staff". NBA.com. November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
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