Tim Walker enters his seventh season as the head coach of the Malone University men's basketball team in 2015-16.
In 2009-10, Walker’s first year at the helm of the program, Malone overcame a tough 4-12 start, winning nine of its final 13 contests to earn a spot in the conference playoffs. This momentum then carried over to 2010-11 as the Pioneers pocketed an 18-13 overall mark and a fourth-place regular-season finish among the American Mideast Conference’s ten teams. And the winning has certainly continued over the last few years, despite an upgrade in competition as Malone transitioned to NCAA Division II status and joined one of the top Division II conferences in the nation, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
In 2013-14, the Pioneers’ first year of NCAA Division II postseason eligibility, Walker led Malone to the GLIAC Final Four after knocking off the GLIAC Tournament’s #1 seed, Lake Superior State University (MI), in the opening round.
Following the graduation of several key players from the 2013-14 squad, Malone’s young roster battled throughout the 2014-15 campaign, posting a 9-13 conference record and narrowly missing out on another postseason berth.
Prior to taking over the reins of the Malone program, Walker spent seven seasons as head coach at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois (located about 20 miles southwest of downtown Chicago).
Walker experienced plenty of success during his time at Trinity, leading the Trolls to their first NAIA national tournament appearance in school history following the 2004-2005 season as the team won the program’s first-ever CCAC (Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference) tournament championship, finishing with an 18-15 record. Walker was named the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association’s NAIA Div. II Coach of the Year for his efforts.
Then, in 2007-08, Trinity posted a record of 23-13 which was only the second 20-win season in the 36-year history of the program. Another outstanding year followed in 2008-2009 as Walker directed his squad to a second-straight 20-win season (third in the program’s history) at 23-9. After earning a regular-season co-championship in the CCAC, the first in the program’s history, Trinity earned another appearance in the NAIA Div. II national tournament, losing a first-round contest to eventual quarterfinalist Indiana Wesleyan University by the score of 67-61. The only men’s basketball coach in Trinity’s history to have a winning record, Walker’s overall mark in seven seasons at Trinity was 111-108 with a CCAC record of 47-31.
Walker graduated from Cedarville University in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in finance. He earned his master’s of sports science in coaching at the United States Sports Academy (AL) in 2001. Before coming to Trinity, he served as an assistant coach at Calvin College (MI), from 2000-02 during which time the program’s record was 43-11, and at Cedarville University.
Tim, his wife, Alison, and their four children (Emily, Grant, TJ, and Callan) reside in North Canton.
