“We’re excited to welcome Coach Walker home to De La Salle, his alma mater, to lead our young men with integrity, high energy, and enthusiasm for both the game and for a Lasallian education,” said De La Salle Athletic Director Tom White. “Under his guidance, we are confident that he will inspire our young men to greatness on and off the field. He is a student of the game and he will be a tremendous role model to our young student-athletes and will help them become one of Chicago’s leading high school teams.”
“I am thrilled to be coaching at De La Salle, a great high school that helped me become a young man of integrity, intellect, and determination,” said Walker. “It is my goal that our baseball program will augment the in-classroom academic and social-emotional learning of our young men and drive home the Lasallian ideals of faith, service, community, and social justice. Our team will focus on the fundamental skills of the game to both help them advance in baseball and in the next chapter of their lives as graduates of De La Salle.”
Walker attended Kishwaukee College and was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 43rd round of the Major League Baseball Amateur draft in 1999. As an award-winning coach, his career in baseball, community engagement, and education includes roles at After School Matters, the Chicago Bulls, the Chicago White Sox, the University of Chicago Lab School, Lakefront Children’s Academy, the Major League Baseball Breakthrough Series (Chicago) and Elite Development Invitational (Vero Beach, Florida), and as the CEO and Founder of B.I.G. Baseball Academy in Chicago.
De La Salle Institute, founded by the Brothers of the Christian schools, has served the students of Chicagoland for over 130 years making it the third oldest Catholic High School in the Archdiocese of Chicago. De La Salle fosters the Lasallian values of faith, service, community and a passion for academic and athletic excellence. Learn more at www.dls.org.