Head Coach Tim
Walker
tdwalker@lcsc.edu
Lewis-Clark
State College men’s basketball coach Tim Walker has made his mark on the
Warrior program in his five years at the helm. He has coached the
Warriors to two Frontier Conference regular season and
tournament titles and is the only coach in program history to lead the
team to two berths in the NAIA national tournament in the first three
years as head coach.
Overall, LCSC has made six trips to the national tournament and Walker
has been a part in all but one of them, including three as an assistant
coach and two as head coach.
During Walker’s five seasons, the Warriors have been
consistently among the NAIA leaders in defense. During the 2006-07
season, LCSC gave up only 60.3 points per game, which ranked second in
the country. The team also went 26-7, which is the second most wins in
school history for a season. That season, Walker was selected by his
fellow coaches as the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year.
In 2007-08, the Warriors went 22-10 and ranked No. 4 in the country in
turnover margin, No. 8 in steals, No. 15 in field goal percentage, and
No. 17 in scoring margin. LCSC outscored its opponents by nearly 10
points a game.
In 2008-09, the Warriors ranked No. 9 in the NAIA in turnover margin,
forcing nearly four more turnovers a game than they committed. The team
also was No. 26 in steals per game and No. 29 in field goal percentage.
Under Walker, LCSC produced a first-team All America selection during
2007-08 in senior Mike Gordy, who was a second-team selection as a
junior. Gordy, a 6-foot-5 forward from Denver, also was the conference
MVP twice and also was the conference tournament’s MVP his final season.
He finished his senior year ranked fourth in field goal percentage and
seventh in scoring.
During his helm, Walker has produced several players who have earned
conference and/or academic honors.
Walker became LCSC’s third men’s basketball coach in the last 32 years
when he was hired in May of 2005. During the four seasons prior to that,
Walker served as an assistant coach at LCSC when the Warriors went
103-34 during that time and qualified for the national tournament three
times.
Prior to LCSC, Walker was head coach at Montana State-Northern from
1997-2001, where he was the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year for
the 1997-98 season. That team set a school record with 26 victories and
advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NAIA National Tournament. He posted an
overall record of 72-55 at the school, one of the highest winning
percentages in the league over that period of time. He also coached
three All-Americans, while his players held a graduation rate of 90-plus
percent. Prior to becoming the head coach at MSU-Northern, Walker served
as the assistant for three years, helping lead the Lights to their
first-ever league title and an Elite Eight finish at the NAIA National
Tournament.
Walker began his coaching career at Columbus High School from 1991-1993,
where he also taught History and Political Science, while coaching
football and basketball.
A native of Absarokee, Montana, he played basketball and graduated from
Rocky Mountain College in Billings, MT. He later received his Masters
Degree in Education-Guidance and Counseling at Montana State-Northern in
Havre, MT.
Tim and his wife Lynette have two sons, Jake (17) and Jordan (3).
Assistant Coach Austin Johnson
Austin is in his
first year as an
assistant coach in the
Warrior program after
being hired late in the
spring by coach Tim
Walker.
Austin
spent the last two years
as a graduate assistant
coach at Western
Illinois University in
Macomb, Ill.
While with the
Leathernecks, Austin’s
duties included film
exchange, video editing,
scouting, recruiting,
and on-floor
instruction. Last
season, WIU posted its
most wins in 12 seasons
and ranked 10th
in the NCAA in fewest
points allowed per game.
Austin was hired by
WIU after a brief stay
as a volunteer assistant
coach at Odessa Junior
College in Texas.
Austin earned his
Master’s in Sports
Management at WIU after
graduating from Oklahoma
Wesleyan University in
2008 with a degree in
Business Marketing.
He is the fourth of
five children to David
and Gayle Johnson and
grew up in Wichita, Kan.
After high school he
enrolled at Butler
Community College and
redshirted his freshman
year on the basketball
team. He then
transferred to Oklahoma
Wesleyan where he was a
starter his final two
seasons. He wound up
with 1,207 career points
and made more than 250
3-pointers.
He was captain of
the team his senior
season and helped the
squad to 26-8 record,
its best ever, and its
first appearance in the
NAIA National Tournament
where the team advanced
to the Sweet 16 round.
Austin was a
two-time all-Midlands
Collegiate Athletic
Conference selection and
was chosen Oklahoma
Wesleyan’s Male Athlete
of the Year in 2008.
He also earned
NAIA Scholar-Athlete
honors and made the
Dean’s List at OWU.
Austin is active in
volunteer/ministry work
with both the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes
and Athletes in Action.
He has worked at a
number of basketball
camps, including ones at
Texas, Bradley, South
Florida, Drake, and
Wyoming, as well as
smaller camps throughout
the Midwest.
Student Assistant Coach Andy Johnson
Andy
Johnson joined the Warrior men’s basketball program in the fall of 2007
as a student assistant coach. Andy began his basketball coaching career
with the Bozeman, Montana school system (2000-2004) as a coach in their
seventh and eighth grade programs. From 2005 to 2007, Andy was an
assistant coach at Bozeman High School. During that time he was the head
freshman coach and varsity assistant. A 1999 graduate of Bozeman High
School, he played high school basketball for four years and started on
the Montana AA state championship team. Andy is majoring in Kinesiology
– Sports Administration / Coaching at LCSC.
“Andy brings a great amount of knowledge to our program.” Warrior coach
Tim Walker said. “He played and coached under a great teacher of the
game, Mike Cole, at Bozeman High School. We are excited to have Andy on
our staff. He does a great job in many areas for us.”
