Tyson Walker named finalist for Jerry West Award

Tyson Walker has carried Michigan State basketball this year, and it is being recognized. He is a finalist for best at his position.

On March 5, the finalists for the Jerry West Award were announced. The Jerry West Award recognizes the best shooting guard in the country. To anyone who has watched Michigan State basketball this year, it is no surprise that Tyson Walker was named a finalist.

Walker was named to this list alongside Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves, Kansas’s Kevin McCullar Jr., Arizona’s Caleb Love, and North Carolina’s RJ Davis. He advances to this after being named a semi-finalist a bit over a month ago.

Tyson Walker has been a Michigan State basketball star this year

Amidst a campaign that has had mixed results, to say the least, Walker has been a star. Regardless of the outcome of most games, Walker has been in double digits for every contest except one. In fact, he broke Kalin Lucas’ streak of games in double digits before the streak ended a few games post-record. At the mid-point of the season, in fact, Walker was flirting with 20 points per game. Since then, Walker has been hampered by injury and has not had the same ease in making shots fall. That said, his 18.0 points per game is nothing to sneeze at.

In spite of the Spartans’ recent losing streak, Walker has been the main reason MSU is even in the tournament discussion. In the shocking loss to James Madison to open the year, Walker was the only player who could score. He put up 35 of the 76 Spartan points that night. In the matchup at Little Caesars Arena where the Spartans were in danger of a 4-6 start, Walker had 25 against then-undefeated Baylor as the Spartans went back to .500.

Tyson Walker has 10 contests with 20 or more points this year, along with quite a few games ending with the guard in the 17-19-point range.

Not only has Walker been one of the best scorers in the country at guard, he has also been a menace defensively. Walker has four contests where he has eclipsed the five-steal mark, including a contest against Penn State in January where he was on pace for a triple-double utilizing steals at one point. Walker has been the driving force behind this team. With two games left in the season, he sits only four steals away from a career high. Unfortunately, his injury was soured his amazing season, making me wonder what his numbers would look like if he was fully healthy.

Walker has also been dishing the ball quite well at guard, with a bit over a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. In spite of his smaller frame, Walker also averages nearly three rebounds a night. He is everywhere on the court this year.

With two contests left in the Big Ten regular season, Walker sits only 17 points away from 2,000 career points. Walker has been the example most fans point to for why Tom Izzo should utilize the portal, for good reason. No one has had the impact of Walker.

Tyson Walker is deserving of this honor. On nights when the Spartans have been lost, he has tried his best to will them to victory. Often times during their 13-4 stretch before the last three games, his efforts led the victory. While some of the other four semifinalists might have numbers that are better than his, none mean as much to their team as Tyson Walker has to Michigan State basketball.