By Mason Kelley
GoHuskies.com
When Talia Walton first arrived at Washington, she received a dire diagnosis. She was told her, “knees probably won't last four years.”
In the eyes of some, her college career was over before it even started.
Five years later, Walton is still playing. She is as healthy as she has ever been, averaging 19.7 points and 7.3 rebounds while playing 34 minutes per game.
She is making her final season at Washington her best season because she refused to listen to the opinions of those who wrote her off before she ever put on a purple and gold uniform.
“I tried to keep it in my mind they it's their opinion and they're entitled to it, but I know me,” Walton said. “I know my body. I know what I can do and when I can do it. I've always tried to give myself the best chance to go out there and do what they said I can't.”
For the fifth-year senior, hearing the word “can't” only serves to fuel her fire.
“That defines Talia right there,” said Huskies coach Mike Neighbors, whose team plays Portland at 7 p.m. Wednesday. “Not only has she made it, she has developed into a matchup nightmare.”
With the worry that her knees would prevent her from playing, Washington's staff went to work with the training staff on a plan that would set Walton up for success. She had to have surgery to remove some “foreign bodies” from her knee and, at times over the course of her career, has needed to limit her practice time.
But, she committed to the plan. She focused on conditioning and nutrition. She did everything she could to ensure she would finish her career at Washington as a healthy and productive player.
Now she is in the best shaper of her career.
“I'm running a lot faster,” she said. “Jumping a lot higher. I definitely feel better.”
While she made sure to handle her health, Walton also worked on her game. When she arrived at Washington coming out of Federal Way High School, she was a gunner.
For Walton, any shot had a chance to go in.
“Back then I was taking shots that probably weren't so smart, forcing stuff, trying to do this, trying to do that,” she said. “A lot of people had different expectations for me. I've realized I'm more consistent when I take what's there, instead of forcing stuff.”
As the years have passed, Washington's coaching staff worked with Walton to find ways to maximize her versatility, creating ways to make her game more efficient.
“She was a basketball player who is now a student of the game,” Neighbors said. “She always loved it, but she didn't know why. She knew how, but she didn't know why. Starting this time last year, she started to really click on this is why we're doing things.”
She has invested so much time on her game she is difficult to defend. She spent the summer working to improve her ability to play on the perimeter.
“I'm just always trying to get better,” she said. “This year they have me playing the three a lot more, so I worked on ball handling and perimeter stuff, coming off ball screens.”
At 6-foot-2, the forward can play inside and out.
“She's very, very mentally strong and very focused,” Neighbors said. “She's the most underappreciated kid that's played in the Pac-12 over the past three, four years.”
Her career started with people telling her there was no way she would play four years. It has been five. She has proven people wrong by following a plan and believing in what she was capable of accomplishing.
“I've used that as motivation,” she said.