Athlete of the Week: Trinity Walker

EASLEY — Trinity Walker has turned a real negative into a positive.

Some of you still remember her playing varsity basketball last season for the Easley Green Wave. She was that scrappy guard with a “shooters mentality” who would launch it from the cheap seats … if open.

However, with the coaching position up in the air at EHS, she decided to transfer to Liberty High School. Then, Terry Patterson was named the head coach of Easley and Walker decided to return to play for the Green Wave.

“I took over and she (Walker) was unaware of the (transfer) rule,” Patterson said. “The high school league gave us a call and it is what it is.”

So, Walker won’t be able to play in an actual game for the Green Wave until Jan. 1 when Easley plays JL Mann.

“She’s been a great leader to the other girls,” said Coach Patterson. “She’s one of the best kids I’ve ever coached as far as listening. She could’ve said the heck with it and I’m not gonna practice – I’m not playing until January, but she is here helping out the team. I tell them (the rest of the team) that this girl cannot even play with us (in a game) until January and she’s out here sweating with us (in practice).”

Walker, already named a co-captain of the team, is The Easley Progress Athlete of the Week.

“I’m still being a leader and motivating everyone,” said Walker at practice recently. “I’m putting in the work, showing them that just because you can’t play (in a game) you don’t quit.”

Walker has that tough “edge” that it takes to be successful, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

“I like playing defense,” she said. “I just like knowing that I can stop somebody.”

Continued Walker, laughing a bit, “I like talking junk a little bit – just a little bit.”

This past summer, Walker went the extra mile to work on her game.

“I was in the gym every morning,” she said. “I’d go on runs and I watched a lot of the struggles that I had (last year), and I worked on those. I just did things I didn’t like – like right-handed layups and getting faster.”

Ending note: You’ve got to give credit to Coach Patterson in his first year of coaching EHS girls basketball. He’s gone the extra mile to just get enough players out to field a team. He runs the JV and varsity practices together. He’s got five varsity players who are out for basketball for the first time. He’s got to teach things like passing and cutting, setting screens and coming off of screens. Trying to teach a “secondary break” is down the road. However, a senior player like Walker making the most of her situation is huge.

“We’ve got a lot of girls who have never played basketball before,” Coach Patterson said. “We scrimmaged Walhalla and Blue Ridge the other night and took some lumps. We are just trying to get ready for the season and our region. It’s going to be a tough region.”