Derrick Walton Jr. (born April 3, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Capitanes de Arecibo of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and spent his first professional season as a two-way contract player with the Miami Heat and their G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
He was a Parade All-American as a high school senior at Chandler Park Academy in 2013. He was the Michigan Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year, and the runner-up for the Mr. Basketball of Michigan award. He was a 2013–14 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season All-Freshman selection in the Big Ten for the 2013–14 team, which won the Big Ten Conference regular-season championship outright. He was a 2015–16 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season All-Big Ten third-team selection by the coaches, and an honorable mention selection by the media as a junior. He was a 2016–17 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season All-Big Ten second-team selection by the coaches and the media as a senior. Walton is the only Wolverine with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists, and he holds the school's single-game assist record (16). He was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2017 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament for the tournament champion 2016–17 Wolverines.
Early life Walton was born in Detroit, Michigan to Angela and Derrick Walton Sr. on April 3, 1995. Walton had considered attending Saginaw High School with a close friend, Dorian Dawkins, but Dawkins collapsed at a basketball camp on June 12, 2009, due to a heart defect and Walton Sr. became the head coach at Chandler Park Academy. June 13, 2011 was the first day that Michigan offered scholarships to the class of 2013. Walton announced his non-binding verbal commitment to Michigan, on August 1, 2011. He was ranked in the class of 2013: #77 according to Scout.com, #88 according to Rivals.com, and #92 according to ESPN.com. This commitment came one day after Zak Irvin joined Michigan's 2013 recruiting class. Walton had a breakout season as a junior, that included posting 47 points and 12 rebounds against Crockett High School on March 9, 2012, and a quadruple-double against Cesar Chavez Academy on January 31, 2012. Walton's Rivals.com ranking increased from 57th to 44th in the national class of 2013, during the summer of 2012. On November 16, 2012, Michigan men's basketball received a signed National Letter of Intent from the Walton. At Chandler Park Academy, he was the runner-up for the 2013 Mr. Basketball of Michigan award by a 2,130–2,086 margin to Iowa State signee Monté Morris but had one more first-place vote. He was a 2013 Parade All-American honoree and the Michigan Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year. By the end of his high school career, he was ranked 37th by Rivals.
College career Walton joined a team that had just lost Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. to the 2013 NBA draft. The 2012–13 Wolverines had reached the championship game of the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, losing to Louisville.
Freshman season
In September 2013, Sports Illustrated named him the 9th-best freshman. Sporting News named him the 3rd-best Big Ten newcomer. On November 8, the Wolverines opened the season against UMass Lowell. Michigan played six freshmen and Walton started. Michigan played its third game of Walton's freshman season against Monté Morris' Iowa State Cyclones and Walton outscored Morris by a 13–2 margin, but Iowa State won the contest, upsetting the AP Poll #7/Coaches Poll #8 Wolverines 77–70 on November 17. On November 22 against Florida State, Walton contributed 15 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds to a two-point overtime victory. Walton posted seven assists for the first time on November 29 against Coppin State. On January 9 against Nebraska, Walton contributed key baskets at the end of each half in a one-point victory, giving Michigan its first five-game win streak since the 2013 NCAA tournament. He made a buzzer beater from beyond half court before the half to give Michigan a halftime lead and a layup in Michigan's final possession to take the lead. On January 25 in the Michigan–Michigan State rivalry game, Walton set a new career high with a team-high (tied with Nik Stauskas) 19 points and added 6 rebounds and 4 assists to help Michigan defeat the (#3) Michigan State Spartans 80–75. The victory marked the first time in school history that the team defeated three consecutive AP Poll top ten opponents and marked the first time since the 1986–87 Iowa Hawkeyes that any team had won three consecutive games, all of which were against top ten opponents. It also gave Michigan a 7–0 Big Ten start, which was the best since the 1976–77 team won its first eight games. In the game, Walton went 9-for-10 from the free throw line, including 8-for-9 in the final two and a half minutes. For the week, Walton earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week recognition. On February 11, Walton posted his first double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds against Ohio State, helping Michigan win at Ohio State for the first time in 11 years. Following the regular season, he was named a Big Ten All-Freshman team selection by the coaches. Michigan clinched its first outright (unshared) Big Ten Conference championship since 1985–86. The 2013–14 team advanced to the Elite Eight round of the 2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament before being eliminated by Kentucky. He posted a career-high four steals in an upset loss against the EMU Eagles.
Sophomore season In its preseason top 100 player rankings, ESPN ranked Walton #87. Walton was named along with Big Ten point guards Yogi Ferrell and Melo Trimble to the 36-man Bob Cousy Award Preseason Watch List.
Walton opened the season with a career-high 22 points against Hillsdale College on November 15. On November 29, he was sidelined with an undetermined toe injury against Nicholls State. On December 9, Walton set a career high with 4 steals in a loss against Eastern Michigan. On December 22, Walton posted a career high of 9 assists against Coppin State. In the January 17 win vs. Northwestern, Walton made a career-high four three-point field goals. On January 20 against Rutgers in the first game after Caris LeVert (the team's leader in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and minutes) was lost for the season, Walton scored a team-high 12 points, including 10 as Michigan rallied from a 42–37 deficit to assume a 52–44 lead with just 32.5 seconds left. The 10 points included two three-pointers that tied the score at 42 and gave Michigan a 45–42 lead and 4 free throws in the final minute. On January 24, Walton scored a team-high 17 points and hit a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds to go against (AP #6/Coaches #5) Wisconsin to tie the game and send it to overtime, but Michigan eventually lost. On January 27, Walton was removed from the lineup prior to the game due to a sore toe as Michigan defeated Nebraska. He then missed the final 12 games of the season due to the toe injury.
Junior season After playing only 19 of Michigan's 32 games the prior season for the 2014–15 Wolverines, Walton began the season as a starter against . On November 16 against Elon, Walton led all players with 24 points, six rebounds and seven assists. His performance included career highs of 24 points, eight field goals (10 attempts) and six three-point shots (seven attempts). Walton sprained his ankle in the first half of the December 1 ACC–Big Ten Challenge victory over NC State. The injury was caused when NC State's Abdul-Malik Abu stepped on Walton's foot. In the subsequent game on December 5 against Houston Baptist, Caris LeVert started in his place at point guard while he sat out. On December 15 against Northern Kentucky, Walton returned from the ankle injury that had sidelined him for three games, and posted 16 points, one rebound, one assist and one steal. On December 19 against Youngstown State, Walton posted 10 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, becoming the fifth player in school history to record a triple-double. The rebound and assist totals were career highs. On January 12 with leading scorer Caris LeVert sidelined, Michigan defeated (#3/#3) Maryland 70–67 as Walton had a 12-point/10-rebound double-double. On January 23, Walton's 19-point, 12-rebound double-double helped Michigan defeat Nebraska 81–68, and his 13-point, 10-rebound double-double on January 30 against Penn State helped lead Michigan to victory in the inaugural B1G Super Saturday game at Madison Square Garden. On February 10, Michigan defeated Minnesota behind a career-high 26 points by Walton. Following the 2015–16 Big Ten season, he was listed as a third-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection by the media. On March 11, during the quarterfinals of the 2016 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament against Indiana, Walton set a Big Ten tournament single-game record with 12 assists. The record lasted 5 years until Mike Smith posted 15 for the Wolverines in the 2021 Big Ten men's basketball tournament. Walton finished the Big Ten tournament with 22 assists over the course of the tournament, tying him for third on the all-time single tournament list with Brent Darby (2003), until Denzel Valentine went on to total 28 assists for the tournament the next day. On March 18, Michigan lost to No. 6 seed Notre Dame in the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, 63–70. Walton recorded a career-high six steals, along with ten points, eight assists and four rebounds. Six steals broke a Michigan single-NCAA tournament game record shared by Mitch McGary (2013), Rickey Green (1977) and Tom Stanton (1977).
Senior season
Walton entered the season as one of ten Preseason All-Big Ten honorees. He served as a co-captain with Zak Irvin. In the championship game of the 2016 2K Sports Classic held at Madison Square Garden on November 18, Walton made a career-high seven three-point shots and scored 23 points as Michigan defeated SMU 76–54. On December 10 against (#2/#2) UCLA, Walton posted nine points, becoming the 51st Wolverine in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points. On January 6, 2017, Walton was one of five Big Ten players included on the 30-man Senior CLASS Award candidate list. On February 7 against Michigan State, Walton posted 20 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds, becoming the third player in program history to eclipse 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists, joining Gary Grant and Jalen Rose. On February 12, Walton led Michigan to its first road win with 25 points against Indiana, marking his fifth consecutive 20-point game. After averaging 22.5 points, 6.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals and shooting a 60.9% (14-for-23) field goal percentage, an 83.3% (5-for-6) three-point percentage and a perfect 12-for-12 on his free throws, Walton earned Co-Big Ten Player of the Week honors (along with Jordan Murphy) on February 13. On February 16 against (#11/#10) Wisconsin, Walton posted 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists, becoming the first player in program history to eclipse 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists. On March 5, Walton posted 18 points, 5 steals, and set the Michigan single-game assists record with 16 against Nebraska in the final regular-season game of his senior year, surpassing Grant who had twice totalled 14. Walton earned another Co-Big Ten Player of the Week honor (along with Caleb Swanigan) on March 6. Walton was recognized by both the coaches and the media as a second-team All-Big Ten selection. Walton was one of ten Big Ten players honored as All-District selections by the United States Basketball Writers Association.