Putnam City’s favorite son.
Illustrations by Bryce McKinnis/photography by Joshua Cleary.
Rondel Walker gathered a rebound from a missed Marty Perry Marty Perry 6'3" | CG Lawton | 2021 State OK free-throw Tuesday night as the clock dwindled from four-and-a-half seconds, the Patriots trailing by two.
Having already amassed 27 points for the evening, Walker, 18, was the clear candidate to seize the desperation heave. Dribbling the ball near the left boundary, the Oklahoma State-signee turned mid-court before pulling the ball from his hip and yanking a jump-shot from just short of half-court, leaving a pair of Lawton defenders in their tracks below him as his feet leapt at the Wolverines’ chests.
He lunged forward, hand in the cookie jar, feet true as the shot reached its apex. It dropped, hurtling toward the basket.
With a thud, the ball bounced inward from the side of the rim before escaping the orange hoop and exiting right as the final buzzer cried in irony. After leading all scorers by a considerable margin, Walker left the court without his 30-piece, nor a win.
A smile draped across his lips as he galloped back toward the Lawton student section. A number of the Lawton spectators were visibly astonished at the performance they witnessed. Vexed, Walker clapped his hands together in a better luck next time manner before jogging to shake the Wolverines’ hands.
“I just couldn’t be upset at the fact that we were on the road against a top-three team and lost by two in O.T.,” Walker said, “I was just laughing at the fact that teams in the playoffs really aren’t gonna like how we’re coming. . .
“Especially with us being full-strength now.”
Putnam City’s favorite son inherited, as early as his sophomore year, the crown to the city’s basketball oligarchy.
Battled with nagging injuries and illnesses, the Patriots were without several of their best scorers, defenders and contributors at various points in season. In one game, five of P.C. West’s top eight players were absent.
“For [Rondel], you’re coming into preseason looking at all our talent,” P.C. West coach Lenny Bert said, “you’re looking at it like ‘man, we’re gonna be pretty good.'”
The Patriots, thought by many to be a surefire-top-five team before the regular season, faced a 1-6 record at Christmas Break.
“You start questioning mentally as well as questioning what you can do physically,” P.C. West coach Lenny Bert said. Bert said he challenged his senior leader to take ownership of the team.
“You really see the growth of [Rondel] off-the-court,” Bert said, “his approach, his demeanor changed.”
Bert recalled one occasion, against in-city rival P.C. North on Jan. 31, when the city’s most-promising junior prospect, Tobias Roland, bested Walker in the first quarter.
“Tobais got off to a good start, and I said ‘we’re gonna switch that match-up, Rondel you switch and take somebody else,'” Bert said, “and Rondel said ‘no, coach. I got this.'”
Roland was unable to score significantly in the consequent three quarters as P.C. West defeated the Panthers 65-58 after trailing by 10 in the second quarter.
After a 3-8 start that included five out-of-state losses, the Patriots rallied to finish the regular season 13-10 behind their relentless leader.
“These last two years, he was the hardest worker on our team,” Bert said, “and that never wavered.”
Though the dichotomy of the Walker seen after the Lawton loss and the supposed insatiable Walker seems curious, others say those are the same Rondel.
“[Rondel] doesn’t take the game for granted,” said MJ Warrior MJ Warrior 6'1" | PG Putnam City West | 2020 State OK , Walker’s long-standing best friend and point guard-in-crime. “He gives it his all every time he steps on the floor and that just makes the game so fun for him.
“We can be anywhere, and if there’s a ball, Rondel always finds his way to it.”
His father, Tracey, recalled when that drivenness was materialized, after the Walker family decided to steer Rondel away from football and towards basketball.
In the fourth grade, Walker shifted gears towards the hard-wood. He could not shoot the ball well, but was “fast as lightning,” his father said. Tracey remembered Rondel pestering him to take him to the park, gym, or wherever a hoop was.
“I opened the gym, left the house at 4, the door is open at 4:30 [a.m.],” Tracey said, “Rondel is laying east and west across my bedroom doorway so I wouldn’t leave him at the house.
“That first day, I tripped over him.”
Early lessons of altruism, industriousness and adaptability shaped a young Walker’s mind.
It was his inability to score from distance that drove what became, perhaps, his best skill: defense, on account of the fact that his best chance of getting his hands on the ball were from the other team.
“Rondel averaged probably 12 or 13 points a game without even shooting the ball,” Tracey said.
Defensive excellence became a staple in Walker’s game that never left, even once he developed one of the best offensive skill-sets in the state, hence his recent becoming as both P.C. West’s all-time leader in steals (311) and scoring (1,543).
However, the Walker’s knew a virtue that has rung true in their family — that it would take more than being a great athlete –or even leader on the floor — to lead a fulfilling life.
Dad, you got any clothes?”
A 17-year-old Rondel stood in his father’s doorway.
Confused, Tracey inquired, “Man, what?”
“There’s a kid up here in first-hour,” Rondel continued, “I don’t know him, but the dude been wearing the same clothes every day.”
The elder Walker obliged his son, giving him spare shirts, shorts and pants to add to the collection of Rondel’s own clothes he had already compiled for the P.C. West student. Tracey recounted the story.
“[Rondel] had two bags full of clothes, a backpack and two-or-three pairs of tennis shoes,” Tracey said, “only thing that didn’t have a tag on it was a couple shirts he grabbed from me and laced this kid up.”
Rondel’s aversion from making himself the center of attention further delighted his dad.
“He said, ‘dad, I already know what you’re going to say, “make sure I don’t give them to him in front of everybody else,'” Tracey said. “He did that, I didn’t ask him if knew anybody that needed anything.
Rondel spared few privy to the good-doing, excluding even his coach.
“Coach [Eric] Musselman from Arkansas came in and told that story,” Bert said, “and I didn’t even know anything about it.”
The perpetually-rich basketball culture fostered in Putnam City has seen the steady transition from a bright-eyed point guard a whisker above 6-foot-2-inches to a legitimate college recruit to a Division-I signee. But the consistent fulcrum of Walker’s persona for four years — and a contributor to his basketball success — has been his selflessness and inclination to include others.
Giving away clothes was not Walker’s first philanthropic deed, nor would it be his last.
On Christmas 2019, Rondel took to the destitute streets of Oklahoma City’s East-side and Martin Luther King Avenue to continue his charitable works.
“The kid rides around with backpacks filled with clothes, hand-sanitizers, crackers in stuff in his car,” Tracey said. “Giving out backpacks to locals.”
With West teammate Colin House, Rondel swept from MLK to Northwest-side OKC, giving goods to people experiencing homelessness.
“We just wanted to give back to the community,” House said.
“That’s something nobody told [Rondel and Colin] to do,” Bert said, “they kinda just wanted to do something good.”
“That boy would give you the clothes off his back,” Tracey insisted.
On another occasion, a former P.C. West administrator, who had taken a job helping developmentally disabled students at Moore High School, called Rondel to help calm down a student who had a tantrum.
The administrator called Rondel, who arrived later and talked with the student, who had “laughed back into his normal self” shortly after.
“For her to think like ‘I know who can calm him down,'” said Tracey, “and Rondel don’t even know the kid.”
Proud of his son, Tracey judged Rondel “as genuine as they come.” Bert said Walker’s altruistic personality has been a major contributor to P.C. West’s success.
“When you have your top guy who’s very unselfish, who’s a we guy, not a me guy first,” Bert said, “leadership is easy to accept.”
That’s why the Patriots are once again looking to Walker to be their guy; Mr. West. The altruistic Rondel; the competitive Rondel; the inclusive Rondel; Rondel the 4.0 students and Rondel the volunteer.
One last time.
“Now he’s learning to accept, ‘hey, it’s on me fellas,'” Bert said. “A team that is led by player’s will be a great team.”
House said he believes Rondel is the best player in Oklahoma.
“Our confidence has been growing as a team daily,” House said, “just pretty much gelling at the right time.”
P.C. West junior Mailk Hearn said Rondel will leave behind him a good legacy at the school, thanks to his scoring and steals records.
Hearn added, “plus the championship we are fin’na win.”
“My job in a P.C. West uniform isn’t done yet,” Rondel said. “Coasting isn’t gonna help my team win a ring.”
I asked Tracey if he thought his son could do anything more to make Putnam City proud.
“Getting them a State Championship would be the icing on the cake,” Tracey said. “If he wins a championship, his name will ring bells for 20 years after that.”
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