Plymouth Kizer winner Walters looking forward to helping others
Courtesy of The Pilot News
PLYMOUTH — For Plymouth Kizer Award winner Coby Walters, spending his time on the basketball court was almost inevitable.
“I think I started when I was a little baby,” he said. “I always had a ball in my hand. I started my first league, Upwards (sponsored by the Plymouth Wesleyan Church), when I was four, maybe? It was a really good program. You learn the fundamentals and basics from coaches who have been around the game and help you and are always super supportive.”
From there DNA influenced the Plymouth grad’s decision about what to do in the off-season.
Mom Holly and Dad Cory Walters were each college athletes at St. Joe College competing in track and field and cross country.
“My passion has always been basketball but when I went to Lincoln my parents said that I ought to run cross country, that’s what they had done in college, and that will get you in shape for basketball so that’s why I’ve always done it,” said Coby. “But it ended up that I was pretty good at it. I started taking it seriously in eighth grade and won the conference championship meet.”
That would be it for a year as Coby dealt with the limbo year forced on sports by COVID-19.
“My eighth-grade year for track got canceled so I was bummed about that,” he said. “It was hard but during that time I ran around the neighborhood to stay in shape and I’m fortunate to have a basketball court in my back yard so I was always putting up shots during that time but it was hard not having practices and being able to be with your teammates.”
Shortly after that COVID year the talent his coaches saw thrust Coby onto the floor of high school basketball, getting JV time as a freshman, and starting as a sophomore, a huge jump for any player.
“It was a big jump but I’ve always had coaches that believed in me and pushed me to my limits,” he said. “It put a lot of pressure on me but I think it was good for me to learn that and get that experience at a young age. I still struggled starting as a sophomore but I think that helped me to compete with the older kids.”
“Even from my junior year to my senior year I took the weight room very seriously to get bigger and stronger for basketball and it paid off big time.”
The big jump for Walters his senior year was a rock-solid consistency on the floor. You always knew what you were going to get every night in his senior season.
“I think what helped was staying consistent in my training all year round,” he said.
Looking to the future Coby likes numbers and he likes helping others.
“I’m a big math guy. I’ve always loved math, I’m not a big fan of language arts and history but I love math,” he said. “I’m attending Purdue next year and I’m in the exploratory studies program. I’m not really sure what I want to do yet. I want to do something that has a little math, business and someplace I can put myself to help other people as well. I’m not a sit-at-a-desk all-day type of guy.”
Game one of his senior year will always be a memory for Walters.
“One of my best memories is our game at John Glenn this year,” he said. “We were projected to lose by a lot and we came out on fire and had such a good game. The locker room after that game was so fun. All that hard work had finally paid off.”
Coby knows what he would say to those younger players that would follow in his footsteps.
“Stay confident and strong and consistent,” he said. “There are a lot of hard times in sports and just stay strong, stay positive, positive is a big thing. Don’t give up.”
