• A former standout at Mississippi State, Walton was
captain of the Bulldogs during the 1996 Final Four run.
• After beginning his coaching career at Delta State
University in Cleveland, Mississippi, Walton teamed with Lipscomb
Head Coach Scott Sanderson at the University of Mobile before
following Sanderson to Lipscomb in 1999.
• Walton is an integral part of the Bisons' success over the
past decade. The former three-time Academic All-SEC Selection
monitors player progress in the classroom, assists in all facets of
operations, and works on skill development with the Bisons' post
players.
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Mar 3, 2010
NCDS: Jay Walton, Asst. Coach - Lipscomb ("Preparing for the Atlantic Sun tourney")
Jay Walton: Asst. Coach - Lipscomb
* * *
"If dreams were thunder, and lightnin' was desire
This old house woulda burned down a long time ago."
-John Prine, Angel from Montgomery
347 Division I teams began the season months ago with plenty of dreams and desires, some more realistic than others. March is a month for dreams in the world of college basketball. Some of us will have our wildest ones come true. For others of us, they will come crashing down like an airball from three point range. As I write this, several teams' seasons have already come to an end in the Horizon, Big South, and Ohio Valley tournaments. Cinderella stories never to be told.
For many teams in bigger conferences, the first week of March is merely a tune-up for postseason play. Our friends across town at Vanderbilt, for example, have played well enough this year to have already wrapped up an NCAA bid. In their remaining regular season games and conference tournament they are playing to earn a higher seed in the Big Dance. Important games, yes-but not quite the do-or-die scenario we face in life outside the BCS leagues.
For teams in the Atlantic Sun, March truly is madness-a one-and-done, loser-leave-town deal. The regular season games we so diligently prepared for and fought so hard to win have been erased; their outcomes forgotten, their results not cumulative.
Over the course of 20 league games, we earned a share of the Atlantic Sun regular season championship. By virtue of the league's tiebreaker rules, we claim the top seed for the championship tournament. Our center Adnan Hodzic was named A-Sun Player of the Year and shooting guard Josh Slater earned 1st Team all-conference honors. We have battled through serious injuries to two starters along the way. We have won at the buzzer, and we have lost at the buzzer. We are proud of what we have accomplished up to this point. However, we would gladly trade all these achievements for the one that matters most-an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
This year's Atlantic Sun tournament will be held in Macon, GA at Mercer University. We are here already, awaiting tomorrow's first-round game. This year's tournament may be the most wide-open of any since we joined the league. We feel like we have a great chance to win it, and I know several other teams feel the same way. On Saturday night, one team will cut down the nets and celebrate on Sportscenter. For the rest, the dreams and desires we all had in the preseason will fade away and another year will come to and end. Hopefully this is the year that the Bisons burn the house down.
