I just read a post over at kentuckysports.com called Calipari discusses walk-ons regarding Calipari’s decision not to use walk-ons on his team. I understand, basically, what a walk-on is, but:
1. What’s the big deal about not having walk-ons?
2. How does one become a walk-on?
3. Do walk-ons get to do anything other than practice with the team?
4. Do they get scholarships? (I presume the answer is no)
5. Have there been any famous walk-ons in UK history?
6. Are walk-ons treated any differently off the court? (i.e., must walk 2 steps behind other team members, can’t look coach directly in the eye, must do dishes and make beds of the rest of the team, etc.)
Anything else you think I need to know about walk-ons?
[...] Blue Without a Clue wants to know more about walk-ons. [...]
1. No big deal about not having walk-ons although Mark Krebs is slated to return, maybe with a scholarship.
2. I wrote the coaching staff and got an invitation to walk-on. Cameron Mills wrote that after getting a scholarship offer from Georgia and new SUV from his dad, his dad talked Coach Pitino into allowing him to walk-on.
3. Walk-ons have to be eligible, of course. Some have played significant minutes.
4. Mills got a scholarship by his junior year.
5. Mills was a walk-on turned shooting star his junior and senior years on scholarship. Ravi Moss contributed significantly as a walk-on. Mark Coury started as a PF but played sparingly for Gillispie. Marquis Estill served as a walk-on for one season due to a numbers crunch.
6. Mills claimed his dad got a bill for $8 every time he pulled a donut off the buffet line.
C.J. Henry was a walk-on at Memphis who did not play his freshman season for Coach Calipari. As he was in the Yankee Minor League he enjoyed a nice signing bonus. Henry is now at Kansas with his brother Xavier.