Former KU guard Walters nets job at Nevada: ‘Basketball has taken me a lot of places’

After spending the last two seasons working for the Detroit Pistons organization, Rex Walters has returned to college basketball.

The former Kansas guard, who has 10 years of college head coaching experience (eight at San Francisco, two at Florida Atlantic), has been hired as special assistant to the head coach at Nevada.

Nevada’s head coach is Eric Musselman, who led the Wolf Pack to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 a year ago and has a team expected to vie for a Mountain West Conference title and Final Four berth in 2018-19.

“Basketball has taken me a lot of places. Now I’m in ‘The Biggest Little City in the World,’’’ the 48-year-old Walters said of Reno. He spoke to The Star shortly after Thursday’s announcement of his hiring. “I’m really excited about this opportunity,” added Walters, who started his new job on Labor Day.

Nevada coach Musselman — he has also coached the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors — contacted former NBA player Walters after listening to his recent podcast.

Walters thus far has hosted four episodes of “Real Talk Basketball With Rex Walters” — one with former KU and current North Carolina coach Roy Williams, another with his former Pistons’ boss, Stan Van Gundy.

“I wasn’t pursuing a lot of jobs in college. Three weeks ago I was doing the podcast … I’m blessed, fortunate Coach Musselman liked it and reached out to me,” Walters said.

“He’s really a great coach. He’s done an unbelievable job in three years at Nevada. He’s taken a program that was a bit down, now is a top-10, top-five team in the nation. What he’s done is amazing. I got here this week. His energy, his passion … as a college coach, this is easily the most talented team I’ve been a part of. Very talented, well coached, they play really hard and are competitive.”

Walters in his new position, which is for one season, “can’t actively coach, but I can give Eric ideas, send him my notes from practice, things like that,” Walters said, noting, “I can be on the bench for games to give Coach Musselman and the staff ideas from things I might see.”

Walters — he’s been watching a lot of film of returning Wolf Pack players since Monday — likes what he’s seen of Nevada’s team.

“I don’t know the rest of the country. I’ve been in the NBA the last two years,” said Walters, who was an assistant on Van Gundy’s Pistons staff last season (he was not retained after Van Gundy’s firing) after spending a season as head coach of the G-League’s Grand Rapids Drive. “They’ve got unbelievable size, unbelievable length, are very skilled, can really shoot the ball and can really defend because of length. They cover so much ground defensively. It’s fun for me to watch how hard they play, how unselfish they are. This team has a chance.”

In announcing Walters’ hire on Thursday, Musselman said: “When we started the search for this position, we set a few parameters that were important to our program. First and foremost, we wanted to find someone who had prior head coaching experience. This trait has been something that has served our program both on and off the court very well. We also wanted to find someone that had NBA playing and possibly coaching experience, and with Rex, we were able to accomplish both. Since the moment he stepped on campus, he has hit the ground running. We are extremely excited to add Rex’s basketball knowledge and acumen to our staff. He is a tremendous asset to our staff and program as a whole.”

Walters, a starter on KU’s 1993 Final Four team who played seven seasons in the NBA, said he hopes to see the Jayhawks in person at some point this season.

“Hopefully around Final Four time,” he said. “Maybe we can run into them then. I love KU. I always will be a Jayhawk through and through. I follow it (KU basketball) from afar, once in a while talk to Gurley (Greg, former KU player and current radio color announcer). I check the box scores and keep track how the guys in the NBA are doing.”

Chances are Walters will have a former KU teammate or two of his on his podcast this season. Yes, he plans on continuing the podcast as he spends the season in Nevada.

He hopes to book a special guest in the near future.

“Coach Musselman is really knowledgeable about the game of basketball and has some great stories. Hopefully we can get him on the podcast,” Walters said. “I’m going to learn a lot from coach and his staff (Anthony Ruta, Brandon Dunson, Gus Argenal) this season.”

Gary Bedore

Gary Bedore covers University of Kansas athletics for The Star.