By Kevin Armstrong, SI.com
MIDDLE VILLAGE, N.Y. -- At half past 10 o'clock last Friday night, after the cheers died down and the fans dispersed into the night, Khalid Reeves, a 6-foot-3 former NBA point guard, stood among the last three stragglers in the Christ the King gymnasium, moving and talking with the casualness of someone who recently retired. Twenty feet from a framed picture of himself in uniform as an Arizona Wildcat, Reeves did not discuss his past, choosing instead to speak about the performance he witnessed an hour earlier by his alma mater's current star guard.
"Erving [Walker]'s got a lot of heart," Reeves said of junior guard Erving Walker, who scored 19 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter of a 84-78 overtime win over cross-city rival St. Raymond. "He's got that late shot ability. He's already ahead of me [at this stage]."
Down as many as 16 points in the second half, the Royals rallied behind Walker's poise and penchant for big shots. With the deficit trimmed to seven points and 1:21 remaining, Walker watched St. Raymond's flounder in the final minute, first surrendering the ball on a five second out-of-bounds call and then giving up a three-point play to Sean Johnson. From there, Walker took over.
"He's our 5-foot-7 Calvin Murphy," said Christ the King coach Bob Oliva of Walker, who has committed to Florida. "He can shoot, create, hit big shots and work within the offense. He's so good off the dribble. When down there is no one I want more with the ball. And I've had some good ones."
Walker, who contributed little in the first half after picking up two early fouls, dribbled up the right side of the court with less than a minute remaining in regulation, used a screen and low crossover to his left to get open and shot a well-guarded three to cut St. Raymond's lead to 76-73. Then, after another five-second call on the ensuing inbounds, Walker came off a double screen on the right side to tie the game at 76-76 with 33 seconds left.
"They know he's going to shoot well, but the force him to do other things and he can still get around and go to the hoop," said Reeves, who assists the team with player development now that he is retired and lives in Edgewater, N.J. "He's smart enough not to force things form the outside."
It was that patience and fearlessness that led Walker to drive through the right side of the defense on the final play of regulation, when he could have spotted up for another three but decided to drive to the basket instead for a missed layup.
"When the game was going down the toilet in the first half we needed him in there despite the fouls," Oliva said. "When the game was on the line he was the one with the ball."
The undersized pairing of Walker and 5-foot-8 senior point guard Malik Boothe, who has committed to St. John's, opens up the lane for both to attack the rim or spread the court for open jumpers and threes.
"People told him he would be foolish to come here with Malik already in the mix," Oliva said. "He wanted to come here since the third grade. I coached Speedy Claxton and Erick Barkley on the same high school team. I think they turned out OK."
On Dec. 29, Walker declared his intention to play at Florida Gators. Between games at the Academy Invitational in Houston, Walker called Gators coach Billy Donovan and informed him of his choice.
"I just felt it's the right program and style of play for me," Walker said Friday after the game, wearing a Forida gray hooded sweatshirt. "Once they offered I was all set to go."
"I took him down to Florida for the basketball camp in June or July, and at night I'd bring Erving to the counselor games with the Florida players," said former-Gators player and current Christ the King assistant coach Nick Sanchez, who was wearing a khaki-colored Florida national championship hat after the game."I didn't have to sell him on Florida. Gainseville sells itself when you're there."
Sanchez teamed with Reeves in high school and went on to play for Lon Kruger in 1991 after a stint in junior college. Now the second Royal to make Gainseville his collegiate destination, Walker, expects to fit right in with Donovan's run-and-gun offense.
With Seton Hall assistant coach Dermon Player and St. John's assistant Fred Quartlebaum in the stands at Gauchos Gym in the South Bronx on Sunday afternoon, Rice (Harlem, N.Y.) junior shooting guard Chris Fouch exploded for eight three pointers as the Raiders ran the rival St. Raymond Ravens out of the gym, 90-60. Typically a heated battle to the end, Rice used Fouch's shooting as a spark en route to the CHSAA league win. "A game like this you have to get up for, and we definitely want to get up on them early and often," said Fouch, who has received attention from mid-major schools, but will be contacted by elite schools if he continues to excel like he did on Sunday.
Playing the high-low offense with 6-foot-8 junior forward Samardo Samuels (21 points; 11 rebounds) and 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Greg Echenique (12 points; 9 rebounds), St. Benedict's Prep defeated Paterson Catholic, 85-57, on Saturday afternoon in the tipoff of the Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children Basketball Festival at Seton Hall's Walsh Gym. Samuels (21 points; 11 rebounds) and Echenique (12 points; 9 rebounds). Compared with Benedict's big men, the Cougars' roster looked Lilliputian in size. "That's our Twin Towers, like David Robinson and Tim Duncan underneath," said point guard Dwan McMillan, who scored eight points and added seven assists.
