Joyce Walker (born 1960 or 1961) is an American

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

player who is most renowned for being the third woman to join the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name '' Harlem'' because of ...

, following fellow LSU All American,

Jackie White Jackie White is an American former basketball player. She played college basketball for Louisiana State University (1980–1981), California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona (1981–1983) and Cal State Long Beach (1984–1985). ...

. Walker was a basketball star at Garfield High School in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

in the late 1970s. As a senior in 1980, she averaged over 35 points per game, and set still-existent

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washingto ...

tournament records of 40 points, 17 field goals (twice), and 33 field goal attempts in a single game en route to a state championship, netting the still-existent single tournament records of 96 field goals attempted, 49 field goals made, 114 points scored, and 38 average points per game as well. When combined with her performance in the 1977 tournament she set the still-existent record career tournament average of 26.8 points per game. Her dominance landed her a place in the National High School Hall of Fame and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Hall of Fame. She is considered by many to be the best female basketball player from Washington. In the early 1980s, Walker played at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

on coach

Sue Gunter Sue Gunter (May 22, 1939 – August 4, 2005) was an American women's college basketball coach. She is best known as the head coach of the Louisiana State University (LSU) Lady Tigers basketball team. Gunter was inducted into the Women's Basketbal ...

's first Lady Tigers team, averaging nearly 25 points a game and leading the team in scoring and steals all four years. Walker still holds the all-time NCAA women's career record of 1259 field goals. She also still holds LSU career records of 2906 points, and 2238 attempts. A two-time All-American, she was inducted into the

Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame is located in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame & Northwest Louisiana History Museum – Natchitoches in a new facility in the downtown historic district in Natchitoches, Louisiana. After years of planning and con ...

in 1997 and the

Louisiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame The Louisiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame recognizes members of the LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers athletics program that have made a lasting impact on Louisiana State University (LSU). To be eligible for the Hall of Fame in the Athlete ca ...

in 2017. After stints playing professional basketball in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, Walker joined the Globetrotters, following the trailblazing Woodard and White by a mere three weeks. She coached the girls' basketball team at Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington. Her early years battling the dominant (at the time) cross-town rival Roosevelt High School team are partially chronicled (with interviews) in the 2005 documentary film '' The Heart of the Game''. The Garfield team won the state 4A championship in 2005. She now coaches the JV team and is the assistant varsity coach at Kingston High School in

Kingston, Washington Kingston (formerly Appletree Cove) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,099 at the 2010 census. Kingston is along the shores of Appletree Cove and ...

LSU statistics

Source

USA Basketball

Walker was named to represent the US at the 1981

William Jones Cup The R. William Jones Cup (), also known as the Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in Taiwan. It was named in honor of basketball promoter ...

competition in

Taipei, Taiwan Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

. The team won seven of eight games to win the silver medal for the event. Walker led the team in scoring with 21.0 points per game and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team. Walker played on the 1983 World University games team, coached by

Jill Hutchison Jill Hutchison (born March 8, 1945) is an American retired women's basketball coach, having served as head coach for 28 seasons at Illinois State. Hutchison also served as the first president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. She was ...

. She was the leading scorer for the team, averaging almost 14 points per game, and helped the team win the gold medal.

Personal life

Multiple relatives of Joyce have established themselves in the sports industry. Her Sister Shirley Wroten ran track for the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

. Shirley still ranks in the top ten all time for Washington in the

100 meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

100 meter hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is p ...

, and

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individ ...

. Joyce's nephew,

Tony Wroten Tony LeonDre Wroten Jr. (born April 13, 1993) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies, where he was a first-team all-conference selection in the Pac-12, before being drafted by the ...

, is an

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

player currently signed by the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won fo ...

. Joyce's brother in law, Tony Wroten Sr.,played football for the

and the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

References

External links

''Seattle Times'' profile

National High School Hall of Fame profile

Records Section of the LSU Media Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Joyce 1960s births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American women's basketball players Basketball players from Seattle Garfield High School (Seattle) alumni Harlem Globetrotters players LSU Lady Tigers basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball