Cal Poly Men’s Basketball adds Sam Walters as Assistant Coach
5/22/2024 2:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO – This isn’t the first time Sam Walters has synced up with Mike DeGeorge to help revitalize a program.
A three-year student-athlete at UC Santa Barbara, Walters – after redshirting for the Gauchos during his 2014-15 freshman season and graduating in 2018 – had one final year of collegiate eligibility remaining.
“I was looking at options where I could do a one-year master’s program and use my final season,” Walters said. “Kyle [Bossier] called me and explained the situation at [Division II Colorado Mesa]: DeGeorge was taking over a program that had lost for a few years, but had some talent. I get there; don’t know anything about Grand Junction, Colo., besides what they told me. I didn’t visit; just had a few conversations on the phone.
“From day one, they made me feel comfortable, gave me a voice and it was cool being in that position. I loved every minute of my experience at UC Santa Barbara, every minute on the bench, every minute I got to play. But there’s something about being in the game – and at the end of a close game. It was a cool chapter for me, a new thing in college. It was their first year as a staff as well. They were learning. I felt like that’s why we all connected really well. We were comfortable in those positions, learning on the fly.”
Appearing just 36 times in three years for UC Santa Barbara, Walters excelled during his 2018-19 graduate season with Colorado Mesa. Starting 28 of Colorado Mesa’s 29 games, Walters averaged 7.4 points per outing and recorded seven double-digit scoring efforts while shooting 41.7 percent from three-point range and 84.1 percent from the free throw line.
He also helped establish a winning precedent at Colorado Mesa. The Mavericks finished 19-10 overall with Walters in the lineup and fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a 14-8 mark. Colorado Mesa would go on to average 24 wins a season during the next five years and qualify for five successive NCAA Division II Tournaments.
Sam was an all-time teammate and leader when we were fortunate enough to have him as a player [at Colorado Mesa]. When we signed Sam as a player, we were in a similar place as a first-year staff and needed to bring in guys that were committed to excellence.- Mike DeGeorge, Cal Poly Head Coach
Walters finished his year at Colorado Mesa with a master’s degree in sports management … and something else.
“Of all the coaches I’ve played for, I love and respect and take something from all of them,” Walters said. “But I didn’t really realize I wanted to coach until I played for DeGeorge.
“He has a very special leadership style where he’s the ultimate decision-maker and he makes you feel confident in his decisions, but it doesn’t feel like he’s coming from a place above you. He does a really good job of making everyone – players, assistant coaches – feel like they are heard in his decision-making. His decision-making in the heat of battle is one of his superpowers. He’s the same guy from the first day or practice to the postseason. He’s very good at letting everyone on the team know where they stand.”
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— Cal Poly Men’s Basketball (@calpolymbb) May 22, 2024
Walters arrived at Cal Poly in April after two seasons with two-year West Valley College (Saratoga, Calif.). A program that’s sustained just one loss in its last 41 games, Walters helped West Valley to a 33-0 mark last season and the California Community College Athletic Association State Championship.
“It was a special group of players who were very mature,” Walters said. “They were talented physically and mature mentally. They did such a good job of implementing every game plan, of taking coaching, of playing hard. It’s a testament to [West Valley head coach Danny Yoshikawa] and the culture he’s built, but the players deserved so much credit.”
West Valley delivered the state title on Sunday, March 17, outlasting College of the Sequoias, 59-51. Two days later, Walters received a call from DeGeorge.
“It was out of the blue. I was planning on going back to West Valley, but also open to other opportunities,” Walters said. “I had no idea [DeGeorge] was interviewing. We won the state tournament, he called me on the Tuesday and told me what was happening. ‘Interview went great. They said they’d let me know. I’m thinking about asking you to be on staff.’ He didn’t promise me anything. Just put the thought in my head. A couple days later he called and said ‘it’s on.’ I was very excited.”
Prior to West Valley College, Walters was an assistant coach at Division III UC Santa Cruz (2019-22), initially under another first-year Cal Poly assistant coach – Ron DuBois – then as the program’s interim head coach for six months in 2021.
Teaching really resonates with me as a coach. At the junior college level, I got to teach a lot. The Division III level was hard because you don’t get to work with your guys in the offseason. At JC you do, at Division I you do. I’m excited about that aspect – the development, the teaching – and now being part of such a cool staff at Cal Poly where I’m already learning so much.- Sam Walters, Cal Poly Assistant Coach
Five years and three coaching stops later, Walters finds himself in a first-year role with DeGeorge once more, this time as an assistant coach at Cal Poly where his responsibilities include recruiting operations and evaluation, skill development and opponent scouting.
“No one is more committed to excellence than Sam,” DeGeorge said. “He’s bright, articulate, organized and leads by example. He’ll be an incredible asset in all aspects of the program.”
Not the first Cal Poly coach in the family, Walters is the cousin of Mustang volleyball head coach Caroline Walters. Playing for his father, Stu, at Soquel HS in Santa Cruz County, Walters was twice named Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Co-Most Valuable Player. Also a two-time All-SCCAL first team honoree, he averaged 21.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game during his 2013-14 senior season.
