The Big Interview: Walker Valley Coach Will Campbell

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>PICTURED: Walker Valley team 2026 State Championship</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Walker Valley Head Coach Will Campbell shared some time in July talking about the state of the Walker Valley program and where they are headed in the near term.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PrepHoopsTN: </strong>How was your June?<br><strong>WVHS Head Coach Will Campbell:</strong> We had some good moments. It was a lot of new faces. Trying to figure out who is going to be able to compete and play at a level that is going to help us be competitive. But we had some good moments. I think that...in the summer too we weren't running very much offensive stuff that we will be able to run during the season just because we don't have the practice time to put all of that in especially with so many new, or younger guys coming in. So, we were very base. <strong>Zach </strong>(Davis) looks great. We will have him at point. So, he will have the ball in his hands a lot. Just trying to increase his volume a little bit in terms of shot attempts and things like that. He looked really good. He is a great player. He had some big games for us. He probably averaged 30 a game this summer. We have a long way to go to get to where we wanna be. For sure. It was more encouraging than I thought it might be. We graduated 15 guys the last two years. So, it is a lot to come back from.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PrepHoopsTN:</strong> Who else are you going to be leaning on for ball-handling?<br><strong>WVHS Head Coach Will Campbell:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='3704299' first='Caleb' last='Ayers'] is a senior. He was in our rotation last year. He didn't play much at the State Tournament when we were playing a 7-man rotation at that point. He was kind of like our eighth guy. He is another little guard. He and Zach have played together all the way through middle school. They are a pretty good one-two punch as far as ball-handling. Then I have some younger guys that we will see how it goes. Some sophomores that I am hoping to get some experience for them while we still have the senior guys to handle it. It will primarily be Zach and Caleb as far as ball-handling. A couple of other seniors. <strong>Kane Cooley</strong>. He was injured last year. Positionally, he has pretty good size for a guard. Can handle it a little bit. Can shoot a little bit. Athletic around the rim. Guards well. And then <strong>Harrison Yost</strong> is another senior guard that played for us last year. Played minutes in the regular season a lot but not much in the playoffs. He will have some responsibilities there, as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PrepHoopsTN:</strong> Who are the sophomores that you like? Or the sophomore guards.<br><strong>WVHS Head Coach Will Campbell:</strong> <strong>Jonathan Bischof</strong>. He is more of, at this point, has been a catch-and-shoot guy this summer. Zach has a pretty good gravitational pull. If you can knock down an open 3, then you are probably going to get some with him. He is drawing two and three defenders, a lot. And then <strong>Ian Almazan</strong>. He can handle a little. He is a sophomore. A guard skill-wise. But he is 6'5" with like a 6'8" wingspan. He needs to get in the weight room. He looks like a sophomore. He doesn't look like [DJ] Okoth for Bartlett as a sophomore. But like what you think a sophomore would look like. We have a couple other. A kid that transferred in. A smart, undersized for a guy inside. But he plays bigger. <strong>Luke Hayden</strong> is coming back. A football guy. He is going to be a post player for us. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PrepHoopsTN:</strong> Is Zach one of those guys that needs prodding or his brother to kick him in the butt? Or is he self-motivated?<br><strong>WVHS Head Coach Will Campbell:</strong> It is probably the other way around. He was kicking his brother in the butt even last year sometimes. Zach is very much self-motivated. He doesn't have any issues with that.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PrepHoopsTN:</strong> Is he visiting any colleges this summer?<br><strong>WVHS Head Coach Will Campbell:</strong> I don't think he is going to do any visits this summer. We were at BCAT. We went to North Georgia and played there. We were at Lee. He has had a lot of conversations with a lot of college coaches this summer. He wasn't playing AAU at all. He got picked up by West Virginia Elite. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PrepHoopsTN:</strong> What do you think? I think he is a fringe D1 guard right now.<br><strong>WVHS Head Coach Will Campbell:</strong> He is a Division I point guard skill-wise. He is not going to super-fast. If you want a little point guard that is going to go 100 miles per hour, that is not Zach. But his pace is what makes him so hard to guard. And his twitch. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->