For the fourth time this season, Ahmad Walker of the Barton Community College men’s basketball team has been named the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. Recording his tenth and eleventh double-double performance on the season last week, Walker averaged over twenty points and fourteen rebounds for Cougars. Walker shares his fourth time honor with Butler Community College’s Chris Howell, who also recorded a twenty-one point fourteen rebound performance in the Grizzlies’ lone game last week.
Grabbing a career high fifteen rebounds including six on the offensive glass in Wednesday’s victory over Cloud County Community College, Walker added fourteen points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe while dishing out three assists, two steals, and two blocks. In Saturday’s rematch with the Thunderbirds, Walker was 8-of-15 (53%) from the field and 69% from the charity strip while dishing out a team high six assists to go along with his game high twenty-seven points and thirteen rebounds.
For the season the Port Washington, New York, native ranks first in the Jayhawk West averaging 20.3 points per game while grabbing a fifth best 7.5 rebounds per game. Walker also has led the Cougars in assists in all but seven of his twenty-four games at 5.5 dimes per contest to rank second in the West and fourth in steals at 2.0. Walker also ranks in the top eight in field goal percentage (50.8%) and free throw shooting (75.4%).
Walker won the conference award in week five before consecutive week honors in the twelve and thirteen week’s voting wrapping up the season with the week sixteen honor. No other player in the conference won more than twice.
Having defeated Cloud County by nine on Wednesday, the Cougars were faced again with having to defeat the Thunderbirds as the season stood in the balance this past Saturday night. Barton took a nine point lead into the locker room but a Cloud County 11-2 run in the first three moments changed momentum eventually leading to the Cougars season coming to an abrupt halt 84-81.
Barton climbed to No. 21 in the Division I national poll before finishing the regular season receiving votes in the final poll. Picked to finish seventh in the conference, the Region VI’s third seeded Cougars concluded the 2014-15 campaign at 24-7 after a 12-4 second place finish in the Jayhawk West standings.
