Walton a Multi-Sport Standout For the Schulenburg Shorthorns
Schulenburg basketball player Rodney Walton handles business on the hardwood and the gridiron as he was among the leading rushers for Shorthorns football last season. Walton brings his athletic ability to basketball and it has helped lift Schulenburg to a strong start this season.
“He’s a great athlete as evidenced on the football field,” said Schulenburg head boys basketball coach Rich Hoogendoorn. “He’s still kind of in transition mode. He’s been really working hard on his shot. He’s so quick. He can beat anybody on his first step and the transition is finishing around the hole. Pulling up and being able to shoot that medium-range jump shot. Everybody shoots threes and everybody can go to the hole, but very few players can pull up and shoot the J, so we’re really working hard on that and he’s buying into it. Defensively, we like to get after folks and he’s so athletic that we can get after folks. He’s very valuable to the team.”
Walton’s natural ability has made him our choice for this edition’s Athlete of the Week.
Question: How does football help you with basketball?
Answer: “I feel like one thing that it helps with is not being as nervous. This year, we went 0-10, which everybody knows. We use that as fuel coming into basketball.”
Question: What was your best memory from football season?
Answer: “I got to say the second round of the playoffs (in 2021). It was a big one and it was a nice stadium.”
Question: What was it like playing an Australian team in your recent basketball tournament?
Answer: “It was different because they’re used to a 24-second shot clock, so they played a lot faster and they were all, like, six feet-plus.”
Question: Who’s your favorite current running back in the NFL and why?
Answer: “I’m gonna have to go with Dalvin Cook. He wears my number.”
Question: What’s a sports movie you’ve always enjoyed watching?
Answer: “I got to go with Love & Basketball. It’s a good basketball movie.”
Question: Who’s a teammate you like to play with in football or basketball and why do you like playing with them?
Answer: “I got to go with Tyler (Ryba). We’ve been playing together since fifth grade, so the chemistry’s there.”
Question: Where’s a place you’d like to travel to and why?
Answer: “Antarctica because it’s beautiful out there.”
Question: What’s your NewYear’s resolution for 2023 or something you’d like to focus on for the new year?
Answer: “Keeping my grades up and trying to focus on basketball as much as I can.”
Question: If you could have any kind of sports career, what would it be and why?
Answer: “I’d have to go with the NFL because it’s always been a dream since a kid.”
Question: What’s something you like about being in Schulenburg?
Answer: “It’s quiet and it’s peaceful. It’s not as big as the city where I grew up.”
Walton has all the intangibles for Schulenburg to make some noise in February and March.