Jarace Walker Inspired by Kelvin Sampson’s Challenge, Puts In Extra Work — A Tale of Two UH Basketball Unicorns

It’s more than a half hour after the game and Jarace Walker is drenched in a fresh layer of sweat. The University of Houston’s super freshman went back out after Kelvin Sampson talked to the team in the postgame locker room to get some extra work in. Sampson challenged Walker in the days leading up to UH’s 89-59 wipeout of Tulane and a career-high 13 rebounds isn’t enough for this 19 year old.

Jarace Walker wants to show his coach even more.

“When Coach tells me something, I take it to heart,” Walker tells PaperCity. “He’s trying to get the best out of me and help me reach my potential. I’m always going to try and do what he tells me.”

Walker wipes some of that fresh sweat off his forehead as he talks. He’s already paused in the Fertitta Center back hallway to sign an autograph for a kid and respectfully listen to a grown man UH fan who introduces himself as a dentist. Even after those 13 rebounds, and one of sweetest one touch big man passes you’ll ever see, Walker isn’t happy with his 4 for 12 shooting (including an uncharacteristic 1 for 6 mark from three).

So he decided to get in some extra work while his coach talked to the media. To work up another sweat. This isn’t unusual for a UH player. It’s part of the very ethos of the program. Sophomore center Ja’Vier Francis has come back out to work on his post moves and get up some shots on the empty Fertitta Center court after two straight games now. J’Wan Roberts turned himself into a more and more confident offensive player with near daily pre and post practice sessions with UH assistant coach Kellen Sampson. And no one outworks star guard Marcus Sasser, who practically runs his own midnight shooting club.

But the buy-in from Jarace Walker means plenty. This is someone who could probably coast his way into being an NBA lottery pick at this point. But that is not what Walker is made of. And it helps that he has this coach too.

“That definitely means a lot,” Walker says of Kelvin Sampson pushing him. “And me and the city as well, how people have treated us. Just knowing that all the hard work and recognition is paying off. All the hard work and effort we’ve been putting in.”

To Walker, it really is not just about him.

Jarace Walker and the Joy Of Being a Good Teammate, Magic Pass Included

No one seems more excited than Jarace Walker for J’Wan Roberts’ career 26 point night against Tulane, one punctuated by several dunks that threaten the rims at the Fertitta Center like a tornado threatens a shed. After several Roberts dunks, the super freshman is the first one over to him, even running off the bench to hit him with a chest bump.

Walker sets up one of Roberts’ easier hoops with a one-handed touch pass inside that looks like the kind of thing Wayne Gretzky would create off his stick.

“That was a good pass,” UH guard Tramon Mark says admiringly. “I complimented him on that pass. That was a sweet pass.”

Mark, who may be the most instinctually creative player on UH’s roster, someone who is willing to try passes that others might not even see the angle on (sometimes to Sampson’s exasperation), giving someone passing props and style points means something. Jarace Walker has a way of exciting his teammates — or anyone who truly loves basketball for that matter.

To Kelvin Sampson, challenging such a talented player is part of his responsibility. He wouldn’t be doing Walker or the game of basketball justice if he didn’t coach him hard.

“I’ve been on Jarace hard the last couple of days,” Sampson says. “The thing about Jarace is he usually responds. I thought he played hard (against Tulane). He had some mistakes, but mistakes are usually made by omission or commission.

“As long as they’re going 100 miles per hour, I can survive the mistakes. When you’re having mistakes going half assed, then. . . there’s probably going to be an issue. But Jarace played hard. He’s always unselfish. He had some tough luck on some of his shots.”

The rebounding — especially five offensive rebounds against Tulane and a stretch where Walker has at least eight rebounds in three of four games — is encouraging. Because it shows Walker is using his body to move some people around.

“The more physical he is, the better player he is,” Sampson says.

The shots will fall again soon for Walker. He’s shooting 49 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range as a freshman heading into Saturday night’s game at East Carolina. Doing it for the No. 1 team in America, eagerly sharing with other talented players.

This is a big part of the reason the nation’s top ranked team still may have as much upside as any squad in America. These 26-2 Cougars still haven’t reached their ceiling and the players all seem excited about that. Sasser expresses that view on the postgame press conference platform — and Jarace Walker is more than ready to listen.

“I definitely see what he’s saying with that,” Walker tells PaperCity. “I feel like we definitely have another level we can take it to as a team.”

When I ask Walker what reaching that level will take, the freshman doesn’t hesitate.

“Just everybody playing hard and competing at the same time,” Walker quickly answers.

The buy-in from Jarace Walker means plenty. This is someone who could probably coast his way into being an NBA lottery pick at this point. But that is not what Walker is made of.

Young guys like Walker and Ja’Vier Francis putting in extra work after games is an encouraging sign on that road. There is a decided seriousness about this UH team with March approaching.

“EMan, Terrance, J, they’re all picking up their effort and just being smart when they’re on the court,” Mark says of sixth man Emanuel Sharp, freshman wing Terrance Arceneaux and Francis. “Being smart, that’s a big thing. Playing hard while being smart.

“They’re doing a great job on that. I’m proud of them.”

You get the idea that Jarace Walker wants to make his 67-year-old basketball lifer of a coach proud. Sampson may be as gifted at coaching as this 6-foot-8, 240 pound freshman who is built like a tank and can sometimes show the footwork of a ballet dancer is at playing basketball.

“There is no part of the job, he isn’t a 10 out of 10 at,” UH assistant coach Kellen Sampson says of his dad and coaching mentor. “Kind of having that force — and quite honestly being around somebody as talented as Coach is every single day — it drives you to be the very best version of yourself.

“I don’t know if any of us are as talented as he is at being a basketball mind.”

This particular UH dream team essentially has two unicorns — the 19-year-old who seems headed for a long career in the NBA and the one of one coach who is always pushing for more. Is it any wonder that Jarace Walker and Kelvin Sampson seem to understand each other so well?

“He knows just what to say to get to me,” Walker says.

In another moment, Jarace Walker is pulling open one of the heavy doors in the Fertitta Center’s back corridors, headed for the locker room covered in sweat as a few of his teammates already walk the other way. Walker will be one of the last UH players to leave the arena on this night, determined to meet his coach’s challenge.

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