Walsh Goes From Towels to Top Scorer

Derrick Walsh, leading scorer on the Dana Hills High School boys’ basketball team, has known tough times.

Walsh was cut from the freshman team. He was academically ineligible to compete as a sophomore and he was the team’s manager as a junior, picking up towels and sweats and passing out water bottles.

All the while, he never gave up. He spent weekends on the courts at Main Beach in Laguna Beach or the Laguna Niguel YMCA, playing the game he loves.

“I spent a lot of time practicing and hoping,” Walsh said. “I knew I could play, I just needed a chance.”

This year, Walsh has finally gotten his chance. He’s averaging 18 points and has reached double figures in all six of Dana Hills’ games. He was named to the all-tournament team at the Santa Maria tournament.

“All the credit should go to him,” said Tom Riach, Dana Hills assistant. “Derrick has shown a lot of perseverance. He had the courage to never give up.”

So how did someone who was cut as a freshman develop into the team’s leading scorer?

For openers, Walsh competed each weekend against some of the area’s top college and high players at Main Beach. The four-on-four half-court games leave a lot to be desired in the area of fundamentals, but few who aren’t street-tough survive.

“They cheat, but it’s good competition,” Walsh said. “Nobody likes to lose down there. They’ll do just about anything to win. Playing there every weekend made me a stronger player.”

Then there were the recreation league games on Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Laguna Niguel YMCA, where Walsh perfected his three-point shot and drives to the basket.

“It was good competition, but you also pick up some bad habits,” he said. “There’s a lot of hot-dogging that goes on and not a lot of emphasis on fundamentals.”

There also were the countless hours Walsh spent shooting at Marina Hills Park near the apartment where he lives with his mother, Carmen.

“I played little games against myself . . . three-point shooting contests, free-throw contests and tip drills,” he said. “During the summer, I’d leave home at 9 to go play and get home around 5. I’d play all day.”

Finally, Walsh learned to become a team player attending summer camps conducted by Laker stars Byron Scott and Magic Johnson. Walsh spent a week at Johnson’s camp at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks.

But the humbling of Derrick Walsh came last season when he served as team manager while sitting out a second season because of academic ineligibility.

“I wanted to be a part of the team, so I decided to become the student manager,” he said. “I was just happy to be around the team. My friends used to make fun of me folding the towels, but I wanted to be part of the team.”

Walsh attended every practice and worked on his jump shot when he wasn’t icing down a player’s sore knee or elbow. All along, Walsh’s teammates encouraged him to keep trying.

“I thought being ineligible was unfair, but I never gave up,” he said. “I played every day. I love the competition, whether you’re playing one-on-one or four-on-four.”

Walsh said he received As, Bs and one C on his last report card and hopes to play college basketball next year.

“But even if I don’t go on to play basketball in college,” he said, “I’ll still find a game to play somewhere.”