Thomas Ryan Walkup (born December 30, 1992) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for Stephen F. Austin State University. Walkup was named Southland Conference Player of the Year for two consecutive seasons (2015 and 2016). Before playing at the college level, he attended Deer Park High School in

Deer Park, Texas Deer Park is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The city is located in Harris County and is situated in Southeast Texas. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population of Deer ...

. Walkup is a native of

Pasadena, Texas Pasadena () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 151,950, making it the twentieth most populous city in the state of Texas, as well as the second-largest cit ...

High school career

Born in

, Walkup attended Deer Park High School in nearby Deer Park. He was a point guard in his junior season for the varsity basketball team and averaged 10.1 points, 5.0 blocks, 4.6 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. Walkup also earned all-district honors after helping the Deer finish the season with a 24–11 record. He also lifted them to a bi-district round victory at the Class 5A playoffs. As a senior, Walkup averaged 25.9 points and 8.9 rebounds with Deer Park. In his years with the school, he faced two ACL injuries and a broken foot. In November 2010, Walkup committed to play college basketball at Stephen F. Austin State University for the Lumberjacks. He chose the school because he aspired to compete in the NCAA Division I tournament and they ran a successful program. Houston Baptist was the only other school that offered him a scholarship. Walkup later said, "There was a reason I didn’t have any other scholarship offers besides those two—I wasn't any good." His father commented on Walkup's recruitment, "I'm sure scouts looked at him and said, 'Well, he's a 6–4 white guy and he can't shoot and he plays the four. And we don't need that.'"

College career

Walkup immediately assumed a big role with the Lumberjacks as the team's

sixth man The sixth man in basketball is a player who is not a starter but comes off the bench much more often than other reserves, often being the first player to be substituted in. The sixth man often plays minutes equal to or exceeding some of the sta ...

during his freshman season. In 18.5 minutes per game, he averaged 4.4 points and 3.6 rebounds. He recorded a season-best 11 points twice, against

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

on November 24, 2012, and versus McNeese State on January 5, 2013. That season, the Lumberjacks won a school-record 27 games, winning their third

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it ...

title of all-time and qualifying for the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). As a junior at Stephen F. Austin, Walkup averaged 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. His teammates began referring to him as "The Snake", after establishing his ability for rebounds, consistently drawing fouls for opposing players, and providing scrappy defense for the Lumberjacks. He was named Southland Conference Player of the Year in 2015. In the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, Walkup scored 33 points in a 70–56 upset over third-seeded

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

. He shot 19-for-20 on free throws.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft, Walkup joined the Golden State Warriors for the

2016 NBA Summer League The 2016 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week- ...

. On September 26, 2016, he signed with the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

. However, he was later waived by the Bulls on October 21 after appearing in four preseason games. On October 30, he was acquired by the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thir ...

of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of Chicago. On August 10, 2017, Walkup signed with

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg Riesen Ludwigsburg ( en, Giants Ludwigsburg), for sponsorship reasons MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, is a professional basketball club that is based in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the first tier of ...

of the German Basketball Bundesliga for the 2017–18 season. In April 2018, he was named to the All-German BBL First Team. On June 21, 2018, Walkup signed with Žalgiris Kaunas of the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

. Walkup received the LKL Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2019. On 27 November 2019, Walkup extended his contract with Žalgiris until the summer of 2021. On June 11, 2021, he officially signed a three-year contract with Greek club

of the EuroLeague.

Awards and accomplishments

Club career

Žalgiris Kaunas * 3× Lithuanian LKL Champion (

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

) * 2x

King Mindaugas Cup King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Winner (2020,

) Olympiacos * Greek League Champion: (

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

) * 2×

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

Winner (2022, 2023) *

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup ( el, Σούπερ Καπ Ελλάδος), officially known as the Cup of Friendship and Solidarity ( el, Κύπελλο Φιλίας και Αλληλεγγύης) was a Greek association football one-match competition which w ...

Winner (2022)

Individual

* 2× AP Honorable Mention All-American ( 2015,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

) * 2× Southland Player of the Year (2015, 2016) * 2× First-team All-

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

(2015, 2016) * 3× Southland tournament MVP (

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 2015,

) *

Lou Henson Award The Lou Henson Award is an award given annually by '' CollegeInsider.com'' to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award, established in 2010, is named for legendary Illinois Fighting Il ...

(2016) * All-German BBL First Team (

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

) * German BBL All-Star (

) *

Eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provide coverages of every professional and semi-professional leagues around the world. Although primarily focusing on European basketball, th ...

's All- German BBL Defensive Team (2018) * LKL Finals MVP (2021) * 2× LKL Best Defender (2019, 2021) * Greek League Best Defender (2022) * All-Greek League Defensive Team (

) * Greek League All-Star (2022)

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 34 , , 18 , , 16.4 , , .485 , , .295 , , .806 , , 2.6 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .0 , , 5.2 , , 5.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 34 , , 18 , , 16.5 , , .485 , , .295 , , .806 , , 2.6 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .0 , , 5.2 , , 5.6

Personal life

Walkup was born on December 30, 1992, to Lisa and Raymond Walkup and was brought up in

. He has an older brother named Nathan who played as a forward for the Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team from the 2007–08 season to 2010–11 season. Both players graduated at Deer Park High School and played under Coach Louis Means. Walkup has often been known for his beard, which drew the attention of several media outlets during the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Entering that year's tournament, he had not shaved since November 1, 2015. Walkup claimed that he had been asked to shave it, but he felt that it fit in with Stephen F. Austin's mascot, the Lumberjacks. His appearance has also been compared with Philadelphia Phillies baseball player

Bryce Harper Bryce Aron Max Harper (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to his arrival in Philadelphia, Harper played for the Wash ...

. He has also been nicknamed "Fresh Cut" by Barry Knight.

References

External links

Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walkup, Thomas 1992 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American expatriate basketball people in Greece American men's basketball players Basketball players from Texas BC Žalgiris players Riesen Ludwigsburg players People from Pasadena, Texas Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Harris County, Texas Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks basketball players Windy City Bulls players