Head coach Barry Hinson announced today that Justin Walker will serve as the men’s basketball graduate assistant at Southern Illinois University.

Walker is a 2012 graduate of Eastern Illinois and played collegiately at Carthage College. For the past four years, he has served as director of operations for Illinois Basketball Academy. Walker has also worked as assistant coach at Moraine Valley Junior College (2012-13) and Waubonsie Valley High School (2013-14). Moraine Valley was 31-6 and finished as national runner-up during Walker’s season on the staff. Moraine Valley was 31-6 and finished as national runner-up during Walker’s season on the staff.

Walker replaces Luke Scheidecker, who served in the same capacity the last two seasons.

"Luke was a tremendous asset to our program and we are grateful for all the hard work he put in," Hinson said. "We knew we had to find someone who is extremely responsible, who can relate to the players and who has ties to college basketball, and Justin hit the trifecta on all three. His resume, recommendations and references were all outstanding."

Walker will help coordinate travel, team meals and practice schedules, among other duties.

"I tore my ACL during my junior year of college, and that whole year I started to see the game differently and started thinking about life after basketball," Walker said. "At that point, I knew I wanted to get into coaching, and my goal has been to get to the Division I level. I knew about the great history of Saluki Basketball and I’m excited to be here."

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