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A New Day for USF Men's Basketball
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USF names Rex Walters head men's basketball coach.
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Rex Walters has been named head men's basketball coach for the University of San Francisco. As head coach at Florida Atlantic University since 2006, the former Kansas University star and NBA veteran brings a wealth of experience and an outstanding resume to the Hilltop.
Walters was the unanimous choice of the search committee formed in March that was led by Chuck Smith, vice chair of the USF Board of Trustees and former president and CEO of AT&T West. The committee, comprised of Jim Brovelli, USF Hall of Fame player and former coach of USF men's basketball, Walt Gmelch, dean of the USF School of Education, and Mario Prietto, S.J., rector of the USF Jesuit Community and a member of the USF Board of Trustees, worked hand-in-hand with leading executive search firm DHR International, and USF Athletic Director Debra Gore-Mann.
"We have done our very best and hired a high-caliber individual who will lead us to prominence," Smith said. "Coach Walters is the right guy at the right time to take us to the next level."
"His professional reputation, knowledge, and experience in the game of basketball, and his focus on student-athletes make him the perfect fit to lead the Dons," Gore-Mann said of Walters.
In his first season at Florida Atlantic University, Walters guided the Owls to their second consecutive winning season. It was the first time the program posted back-to-back winning campaigns since the team had three straight years of winning basketball from 1989-90 to 1991-92.
In 2006-07, the Owls won 10 Sun Belt Conference games, the third-most for a first-year Sun Belt member. The team also set a program scoring record, averaging 74.9 points per game. Two of Walters' student-athletes were named Second Team All-Sun Belt, the first student-athletes honored with a major postseason distinction under his direction. The Owls were 15-18 overall and 8-10 in Sun Belt Conference play in 2007-08.
"Today is an extremely exciting day for me and my family," said Walters, who attended San Jose's Piedmont Hills High School before going on to graduate from Independence High School in San Jose in 1988. He was recruited by Brovelli, then USF men's head basketball coach, but ended up going to Northwestern then on to Kansas. "I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to return to the Bay Area and coach at a world class university in an outstanding conference."
Walters said his biggest goal is to prepare USF players for life after basketball, but that he intends to "win championships and hang banners" at War Memorial Gymnasium. Dedicated to a team axiom of "harder, smarter, and more together," Walters said opponents can expect a physical game from the Dons in the future, especially in the paint.
He plans to talk to the current coaching staff and has some outside names in mind for assistant positions, but will take his time to evaluate and find those who will be the best fit for USF, Walters said.
Prior to Florida Atlantic, Walters' first collegiate coaching job came at Valparaiso, a two-year stint as an assistant under Homer Drew. The 2003-04 Hornets were 18-13 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament after capturing the Mid-Continent Conference with a record of 11-5.
Walters' pedigree for coaching began as a player, receiving tutelage from some of the game's legendary coaches. Roy Williams at the University of Kansas and the NBA's Chuck Daly, Larry Brown, and Pat Riley all mentored Walters during his years as a player.
He starred for two seasons as a player at Kansas. In 68 starts under Williams, he averaged 15.6 points per game, leading the Jayhawks in scoring during both his junior and senior campaigns. Walters was an outstanding scorer from all areas of the court at Kansas, shooting nearly 51 percent from the field, 42 percent from three-point range, and 85 percent at the free throw line.
After graduating from Kansas in 1993 with a bachelor of science degree in education, Walters was selected by New Jersey as the 16th overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft. He went on to play seven seasons in total with the Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Miami Heat, averaging 4.6 points and 1.7 assists per game in 13.7 minutes.
Walters' professional career spanned nine seasons in total, ending in 2002 after playing internationally for two years and winning an American Basketball Association title with the Kansas City Knights.
Walters and his wife, Deanna, have four children: Addison (11), Drew (9), Riley (6), and Gunner (4), and are expecting their fifth child. 
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