Walter Wallace Hodge Muñoz (born September 21, 1986) is a Puerto Rican- U.S. Virgin Islander professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

(BSN). Internationally, Hodge plays with the senior U.S. Virgin Islands national basketball team, due to eligibility arising from his Virgin Islander grandfather. After being a reserve

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

in his first two seasons with the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

, he became the starting point guard for the two-time defending national champions in the 2007–08 season. On June 5, 2013, in appreciation for his contribution to

Zielona Góra Zielona Góra (; ''Green Mountain''; ) is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (). The region is closely associated with vineyards and holds an annual Zielona Góra Wine Fest, Wine Fest. Zie ...

, his jersey number was retired.

Early years

Hodge was born in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

. He attended Florida Air Academy in

Melbourne, Florida Melbourne ( ) is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando, Florida, Orlando along Florida's Space Coast, named because of the region's proximity to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. The city ...

, a private military academy, and played high school basketball for the Florida Air Falcons. The Falcons won the state championships, with undefeated teams, during his sophomore and senior seasons.

College career

Hodge accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, where he played for head coach

Billy Donovan William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before moving to the NBA, he served as the head ...

Florida Gators men's basketball The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I's Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played on Billy Donovan Court in the O'Connell Center, ...

, team from 2005 to 2009. Playing a reserve role in the 2005–06 season, Hodge averaged 3.9 points and 1.2 assists per game, as a freshman. He started 8 games in

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) play, and averaged 19 minutes per contest, during the Gators' first national title run. Hodge had a decreased number of starts and minutes during the 2006–07 season, starting just three games, but increasing his scoring average to 5.7 points per game, as the Gators repeated as national champions. He had a career high of 17 points against

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, and finished the season hitting exactly 50% of three-point shot attempts. With the departure of

Taurean Green Taurean James Green (born November 28, 1986) is a Georgian-American professional basketball player who last played for Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). Green played college basketball for the University of Flori ...

to the

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

, and Lee Humphrey to graduation/playing overseas, Hodge became the starting point guard for the Gators, during the 2007–08 season.

Professional career

In August 2010 Hodge signed with the Polish League team

. In April 2012, Hodge was named the Most Valuable Player of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

. As the Zastal Zielona Góra's top player, he won with his team the 2011–12 Polish League Bronze Medal (3rd place). In the 2012–13 season, Zielona Góra's team debuted in the European-wide 2nd-tier level EuroCup, and advanced to the Last 16. Hodge was the team's leader, with averages of 21.2 points and 5.4 assists per game, while shooting 51.7% overall from the field (52.4% on 2 point field goals) and 50% on 3 point field goals (making 25 out of 50 attempts). In week 6, he took the EuroCup Basketball Player of the Round honors. On February 25, 2013, Hodge was awarded the Polish-Czech All Star Game MVP (he scored 22 points in the game). He was named to the

All-EuroCup Second Team The EuroCup Basketball All-EuroCup Team is an annual award of the secondary level European-wide professional club basketball league, the EuroCup. The EuroCup is the European-wide professional basketball league that is one tier level below the ...

in 2013. In June 2013 he won the Polish League championship. It was the first Polish national championship in

's history. On June 5, 2013, Basket Zielona Góra retired Hodge's jersey number 15. He became the first player in the club's history to be honored with a jersey retirement. In June 2013, Hodge signed a two-year deal with Spanish club Laboral Kutxa Vitoria. In February 2014, he was loaned to Puerto Rican club

Capitanes de Arecibo The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) ...

, for the rest of the season. In August 2014, he parted ways with Laboral Kutxa, and signed with Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg. On May 6, Hodge returned to Capitanes de Arecibo. On July 31, 2017, Hodge signed with Homenetmen Beirut of the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is recognized as the top-tier professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketb ...

. After playing with Capitanes de Arecibo for some time in 2018, Hodge returned to Homenetmen Beirut on September 25, 2018. Hodge signed with Sagesse Club in Lebanon in 2019 and averaged 22 points per game. Later he joined Al Wahdi in Saudi Arabia. On September 21, 2020, Hodge signed with US Monastir of the Championnat National A. In September 2020, Hodge signed with US Monastir in Tunisia. In October, Hodge signed with

Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

in Egypt. He played with the team in the 2021 season of the

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men's basketball league in Africa. Founded in 2019, the league was established and is co-organized by NBA Africa and the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Each season typically r ...

, winning the first-ever championship. Hodge had 12 points and 4 assists in the final and was named the first-ever

BAL Most Valuable Player The Basketball Africa League Hakeem Olajuwon Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Basketball Africa League (BAL) award given to the best player of a given season. The award is named after all-time great Hakeem Olajuwon. The award was fi ...

. On July 27, 2022, the Egyptian defending champions

Al Ahly Al-Ahly Sporting Club (), commonly known as Al-Ahly, is an Egyptian professional sports club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club is mainly known for its professional football team which currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest ...

of the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

announced it had signed Hodge for the 2022–23 season. In March 2023, he returned to the Capitanes de Arecibo after using an opt-out clause in his contract with Al Ahly. In January 2024, Hodge received an offer from his former club Zastal Zielona Góra, but he decided to sign a 10-day contract with Al Ahli Tripoli from Libya for the Dubai Tournament. On October 2, 2024, Hodge returned to Al Ahli Tripoli for a second stint. On October 26, 2024, he signed with Zastal Zielona Góra of the

(PLK).

National team career

Hodge is a member of the senior U.S. Virgin Islands national basketball team. With the U.S. Virgin Islands, he played at the

2009 FIBA Americas Championship The 2009 FIBA Americas Championship, later known as the FIBA AmeriCup, was the continental championship held by FIBA Americas, for North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. This FIBA AmeriCup championship served as a qualifying tourname ...

, the

2010 Centrobasket The 2010 Men's Central American and Caribbean Basketball Championship, also known as 2010 Centrobasket, was hosted in the Dominican Republic. This edition was the first time that the Centrobasket featured ten teams in the finals; previously, eig ...

, the 2011

FIBA CBC Championship The CBC Championship or CaribeBasket is a FIBA-sponsored international basketball tournament where national teams from the Caribbean participate. These countries are members of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC). The top three or four t ...

, where he won a gold medal, the 2012 Centrobasket, the 2014 Centrobasket, the 2016 Centrobasket, and the

2017 FIBA AmeriCup The 2017 FIBA AmeriCup was the 18th edition of the FIBA AmeriCup, which is the main tournament for senior men's basketball national teams of the FIBA Americas. The tournament was held in Medellín, Colombia, Montevideo, Uruguay, and Bahía Blanca a ...

. On February 21, 2021, Hodge scored a national team career-high 44 points in a 95–90 loss to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Awards and accomplishments

College

*2× SEC men's tournament champion: (

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

) *2× NCAA men's Division I tournament champion: (

)

Zielona Góra

* EuroCup Last 16 Week 6 MVP: (2013) *

: (2013) * Polish League Champion: (2013) * Polish League 3rd Place: (2012) *2× Polish League Regular Season MVP: (2012, 2013) * Polish League Top Scorer: (2012) *2× All-Polish League First Team: (2012, 2013) * Polish League 3rd Place Game MVP: (2012) * Polish League All-Star Game MVP: (2013) * Polish League All-Star Game Starting Lineup Top Vote-Getter: (2013) *3× Polish League All-Star Game Participant: (2011, 2012, 2013) * Eurobasket.com's All-Polish League Third Team: (2011) *First player in

's basketball history with a retired jersey ( #15).

Baloncesto Superior Nacional

* Puerto Rican League MVP: (2014, 2022) * Puerto Rican League Finals MVP: (2018, 2020, 2021)

Homenetmen Beirut

* Arab Club Championship Champion: (2017) * Lebanese League Champion: (2018) * Lebanese Cup Winner: (2018) * Lebanese League League MVP: (2018) *Lebanese League Guard of the Year: (2019) *Lebanese League Import of the Year: (2019) *Lebanese League 1st Team: (2019) *Lebanese League All-Imports Team: (2019)

Zamalek

winner: (

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

) *

: (

) * Egyptian Basketball Super League winner: (

)

BAL career statistics

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† , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 6 , , 27.6 , , .486 , , .370 , , .882 , , 5.0 , , 5.8 , , .5 , , .0 , , 15.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 6 , , 6 , , 27.6 , , .486 , , .370 , , .882 , , 5.0 , , 5.8 , , .5 , , .0 , , 15.5

References

External links

Euroleague.net ProfileEurobasket.com ProfileSpanish League Profile

Florida Gators bio
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodge, Walter 1986 births Living people Al Ahli Tripoli basketball players ASVEL Basket players Basketball players at the 2019 Pan American Games BC Zenit Saint Petersburg players Cangrejeros de Santurce basketball players Capitanes de Arecibo players Florida Gators men's basketball players Liga ACB players Pallacanestro Cantù players Pan American Games competitors for the United States Virgin Islands Sportspeople from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico Point guards Puerto Rican men's basketball players Puerto Rican people of British Virgin Islands descent Puerto Rican people of United States Virgin Islands descent Sagesse SC (basketball) players Saski Baskonia players United States Virgin Islands men's basketball players US Monastir basketball players Zamalek SC basketball players Zastal Zielona Góra players