A few weeks ago, Rob Walker accepted a job as a Science teacher at Poston Butte High School. Shortly thereafter, the former La Porte girls basketball coach found out the San Tan Valley, Arizona school also had an opening for boys basketball coach. He subsequently applied for the job and was chosen Monday from among 30 applicants. "I was pleasantly surprised," Walker said. "It was a pretty competitive process. I'm very excited to keep coaching. I'd already taken the teaching job when I was thinking about coaching and how much I was going to miss it." The school, which opened in 2009, had an enrollment of 1,365 in 2017-18, and finished 15-12 this season. "It's a pretty good program," Walker said. "I talked to the A.D. and they have a nice group coming back. I looked into it and it's a good situation. It's a fast-growing area. Our kids are grown, I have the experience and I'm still at an age (50) where I think I can go to another place and give it a good effort, so I figured why not try it?" Walker applied and went through the process for the teaching position remotely, but did his interview for the basketball job in person. "They'd never seen me, so I figured it would be good to interact," he said. "We were socially distant." While Walker coached the La Porte girls the last six years, winning 104 games and three sectional titles, his background on the boys side is extensive. He has stints as a boys head coach at LaCrosse, Westville, LaVille and River Valley (Michigan) and also served as an assistant at Westville, Michigan City and Penn. Walker and his wife Jennifer will move to Mesa after the completion of the school year. "School starts there in July, depending on what happens (with COVID-19), so I'd like to be
out there for summer basketball in June," he said.
Photo by Zach Eldridge
Rob Walker, who resigned recently as girls basketball coach at La Porte, has accepted the boys basketball coaching position at Poston Butte High School in San Tan Valley, Arizona. Walker will also teach Science at the school located outside of Mesa.