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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Jason Day's Interview with Jamaar Walker--(Sept. 23, 1998)

Yesterday our friend and correspondent, Jason Day, who now also writes for UltraStudentAthletes Online conducted an interview with IEBP All-Stars' Jamar Walker (5'-9" Sr. PG) from Riverside La Sierra. Given the amount of controversy surrounding the outcome of the game between IEBP and Rockfish played on Sunday at the Pump Discovery Shootout, you'd think that it was played for a "championship" of some kind. We saw the game, and both Shantay Legans (5'-10" Sr. PG) from Dos Pueblos, who has committed to Cal next year, and Jamar, who is still apparently wide open in his recruiting, played excellent games. Candidly, we think that as you read this, Jamar's view of the stats is somewhat overstated for him and a bit understated for Shantay, and frankly that's not the point of the Shootout in the first place. Both of these guys played well, and Shantay's passing, D, and ball-handling skills definitely demonstrated again why he'll be successful at Cal for the next four years. And Jamar's play also demonstrated why he's being somewhat overlooked and under-recruited, at least for now, and his play this weekend probably opened some eyes. Hey, that's why it's called a Discovery Shootout, right?

Anyway, Jason has given us permission to republish his interview with Jarmar here at SoCalHoops. We don't necessarily agree with everything said here, perhaps wouldn't have phrased some of the questions they way Jason phrased them, and we've slightly edited the copy that Jason posted over at UltraStudentAthletes, removing one line in particular that we're certain someone would find offensive (we won't point it out, so you'll have to search for it), and we've also thrown in a little bit of minor commentary here and there. But that's what Editors are for, right? So we did some editing. And remember, the opinions expressed are those of Jason and Jamar, not us, so if you disagree with either of them let Jason know. He can be reached at ELGEE@MEDIAONE.NET.

Jason Day Interview with Jamar Walker

By Jason Day

Jamar Walker is a senior at Riverside La Sierra High School. He's the starting Varsity point guard and plays the same position for the IEBP All-Stars traveling team. Despite standing all of 5'-9", he is an impact player and is considered by many to be one of the most underrated back court men around the area. His IEBP team is one of the strongest on the "circuit" this season and has chalked up victories against many of the top teams in California, including: EBO (at their own tournament), TPI, Oakland Slam-n-Jam, Belmont Shores I, Inland, SCA II, and others. His school squad is a favorite to take their league this year and Jamar is a big reason why. Last season he made All County, All League, and was voted Best Defender and Best Ball Handler. He is a 3.0+ student. He took time out to talk with us about playing with IEBP, being "underrated", his plans for college and beyond, and his recent matchup against Shantay Legans and Rockfish I at the Pump Discovery Shootout this past weekend.

JD: First Jamar, let me say thanks for taking the time to talk with us a bit, I really appreciate it, I know you're a busy young man.

JW: No problem, I've only got a little studying left to do today, no problem.

JD: You and your IEBP teammates have beaten some of the top teams around but don't seem to get the publicity that you might think a team of that caliber would get. Do you guys ever talk about being "overlooked" so to speak?

JW: Sometimes we do. Because it's frustrating, especially when we see all the stuff that they write about this team or that team, then we beat them and nobody seems to notice. But, we don't let it bother us because we know we can play, and we know that the people who do see us know we can play.

JD: Of all the major teams you've competed against this year, which one gave you guys the toughest time?

JW: I think EBO. Because it was up there at their tournament, and they made sure that all of their top players were there. They wanted to make sure they won their own event. Their team is loaded, but we played one of our best games ever and came out with the big win. Then we turned around and lost to a team we had beaten before and ended up taking 3rd, I think, in that tourmament.

JD: I've watched the All-Stars play a couple of times, and one thing that impressed me right away was how well you guys play together. You share the ball, you pump each other up, and you execute both offensively and defensively. Have you all been together a long time?

JW: Most of us have, yeah. Damon (Damon Knight, SR G, Corona High) and I have been playing together since like before high school. Jaquay (Jaquay Carlyle, SR F, JW North High), Derek (Derek Mgbeke, SR SG/F, J.W. North) and I have played together for a long time too. Derek, Kameron (Kameron Leonard, SR C, J.W. North) and I played at La Sierra as freshmen and sophomores. We got a lot of experience playing varsity as young players. Kristian (Kristian Jordan, SR G, Etiwanda High) has been with us here for a long time. Most of us hang around together when we can, too. Even though Brennan and Brandon (brothers Brennan Martin, JR SG/F, Trabuco Hills, and Brandon Martin, SR SG/F, Trabuco) live far away, they still get up here when they can. So we all know each other on and off the court and we play like that.

JD: We've talked about the lack of "exposure" for your teammates and yourself, but have you attracted the attention of ANY colleges?

JW: Washington State sends me a lot of letters and Oregon State has sent me some stuff. UC Riverside has been interested too. I'm hoping some others will get interested too. I really want to go to college and play ball and get my education paid for.

JD: Have you got any preferences or do you dream of going to one "all time favorite" school?

JW: I guess I'd really like to go to school away from home. But I'll go anywhere that I can get a good education and play ball.

JD: What would you major in?

JW: Business. I want to be an entrepeneur and maybe develop some experience and expertise so I can become a business consultant.

JD: I hear you are 3.0+ student. Do you find it easy to stay motivated in the classroom?

JW: I learned the importance of grades watching my older brother. He played ball too, and sometimes he'd have problems with his grades and he couldn't play. I wasn't going through that. I have to play basketball, I love to play. So if I want to play, I gotta hit the books.

JD: Have you taken the SAT or the ACT?

JW: I took the SAT last semester and got just under 900. I was shocked, I thought I'd do way better than that. I knew it was gonna be hard, but it was much harder than I expected. I really wish I had studied more for it. I thought I would do well so I didn't really prepare. That won't happen again. I've been studying for it all summer. I'm taking the ACT in a month or so and I'm working with a computer based prep program to get ready for that. I'll be ready for both of them.

JD: Let's talk about your IEBP team's recent showdown with Rockfish I, probably the only high profile team you all haven't beaten. In fact wasn't the game at the Pump Discovery the first time you played them?

JW: It was the first time we played them. And we've been waiting to play them for the longest. They get so much hype and we're always hearing or reading about Rockfish, so we've wanted to play them for a long time.

JD: One thing about that game, that a grip of people wanted to see, was you matched up against Shantay Legans. Were you anxious to play against him?

JW: Absolutely. This was my first time playing against him. I am always hearing about him, and reading about him, but Jaquay had to point him out to me, I didn't even know who he was. I had heard what a great player he was, going to Cal. . . I see him on the internet all the time. Everybody is "jockin" him. So I figure, dang, he's this great player doing all this stuff, getting all this pub, and he's the same size as me. I wanna play against him.

JD: So tell us about the game and the "matchup".

JW: Well we didn't play that well early, but we were actually up for a good part of the first half. Later in the first half, Brian (Wethers) came in for them. He had caught a knee in another game or something and they had been icing it during the game. When he came in, the game turned for them a little bit, it was still close. Shantay didn't guard me early in the game. I guarded him, but the other guard [SCH: Russell Lakey (5'-11" Jr. PG/SG) from Studio City Harvard-Westlake] was on me early. I was just going around this guy pretty easy, and Shantay started talking trash to me, trying to rattle me. So I started telling him to guard me and we went back and forth talking mess, then he started guarding me. My teammates and I love it when the other team starts talking trash and stuff, it always fires us up and we play harder.

I didn't have much trouble going around Shantay either, then he backed off me and kept tellin me to take the outside jumper. But I just kept diming Brennan because he was open a lot and I knew that he was gonna make the shot from anywhere. Shantay scored on me a time or two early, but after awhile I didn't see him as a threat to drive, so I mainly played him to defend the J because I'd heard he could shoot.

JD: So how'd it turn out?

JW: Brian and this kid Raphael (Berumen), I think he goes to Simi, were the men for Rockfish in the second half. Derek played Brian real well and the two of them were going at it. But we had a tough time with Raphael. He's just a big dude. Still the game was close.

It looked like Shantay faded eventually and started passing the ball all the time. But at the end of the game he made the move that won the game for them.

It's a running clock and you don't shoot foul shots. So they were up by like 2 points with about 20 seconds left. They just kept fouling us, and the clock kept running. Then at the very end they fouled us and Shantay started messing with the ball instead of giving it to the Ref, so the time ran out. I think the score was 73 to 71.

JD: So did you get Shantay's and your stats? What was the bottom line?

JW: He had about 6 points [SCH: actually, several people, and we at SCH spotted Shantay for 8 points, 10 assists], I know no more than 8, and I had 18. I don't know what the assists were, but I think I had more of those too. I've got the tape so I can count em up. [SCH: We don't have a tape, but we counted both Jamar and Shantay even on the assists at 10 each].

JD: So, was this a matchup of the underatted star against the overatted star?

JW: I don't want to say "overrated" [SCH: Thank you, Jamar]. It was a little bit of a let down though. I thought with all the hype and jockin and stuff, he'd be just this "fantastic" player. He had 6,[SCH: 8] I had 18 [SCH we counted 14, but then we've been wrong before]. He's a nice player, but I feel I outplayed him in this game on this day.

JD: Lots of observers at these "shootout" events, say that the score doesn't really matter because it's not a tournament it's a showcase for the kids to be seen by the scouts. It doesn't sound like you and your teammates felt that way about this game.

JW: This game counted. As far as we were concerned. We were mad at ourselves after the game. We've beaten them all, but we hadn't even played Rockfish. We were real close to beating them too, but we came up short. So it was important.

JD: What's it look like for your school team this season?

JW: I think we should win league. Centennial [SCH: Corona Centennial], might be the real competition and maybe Corona with Damon over there. But I think we'll have a strong team and should take it.

JD: A couple of your current IEBP teammates were at La Sierra and transferred out. How come you stayed?

JW: Because it's my senior year. I've been successful there, made All-County, All-League, got some honors, and I didn't want to start at another school in my last year. Why leave?

JD: Before I let you go, I've got to ask about the very unique, indeed unusual, coaching situation for the IEBP All-Stars. I don't believe I've seen a boy's team, at any level, let alone this level, coached by two women. (Head Coach Eileen Carlyle, and Assistant Christina Jordan) What's that like as a player?

JW: Actually it's a lot of fun. For one thing people take us lightly because they see two women sitting on the bench. I'd rather be underestimated than overestimated. Both the coaches are very involved. They work with us on basketball stuff and non-basketball stuff.

JD: I notice that Coach Carlyle is what you might call a "no-nonsense" coach. How do you guys handle it when she's "in your face" about something?

JW: We don't argue back with Coach. First of all, she's Jaquay's Mom and you can't dis' somebody's Mom and they're right there. You just can't do that.

JD: How's coach with the "X's and O's"?

JW: The coaches know basketball. Especially Coach Carlyle. They're a basketball family. Her husband coached one of our teams last year. We call Jaquay "The Scout". He knows everything about every player we play. Everytime we have a game, he knows who's who, what they did or do, all that stuff. The whole family is really into basketball.

Look at our offense, look at our defense, how we play together. Our coaches taught us that stuff, they know basketball.

JD: Jamar I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us today. I hope we can keep in touch so we all can follow you and your team as you climb to even higher heights. Thank you very much.

JD: It was no problem. Thanks for asking me, and I will keep in touch to let you know what's happening out here.

Later,

Jason Day