After four years apiece at Hiwassee College and Chattanooga State, Bart Walker has accepted the job of women’s basketball coach at Okaloosa-Walton Community College in Niceville, Fla.
Walker, 39, said Thursday that Monday will be his last official day at Chattanooga State.
Former Middle Tennessee State (and also Hiwassee) coach Bruce Stewart is the men’s coach at Okaloosa-Walton, which won a national under former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Murray Arnold in 1995.
“The men’s program is competitive every year, and they want to get the women’s program to that level, too,” Walker said, noting that the Lady Raiders are headed in the right direction with 19 wins this past season. But the 2008 NJCAA women’s champion is Gulf Coast, a rival school in the Panhandle Division of the Florida junior college league.
“Their region is very difficult, maybe the best in the country,” Walker said. “They just have resources we don’t have in Tennessee. They get 15 full scholarships, which include room and board, tuition, books and fees. We’ve done a great job competing with what the state allows us to have at Chattanooga State, but it will be nice to go down there and have the depth to compete nationally.”
Walker was 71-35 at Hiwassee with NJCAA final-eight appearances his last two seasons and 98-20 at Chattanooga State with another final-eight trip in 2006. The Lady Tigers made the Region VII final one other time in his four years and were 21-8 and region semifinalists this year.
A former Walters State and Lincoln Memorial player, Walker commuted from Knoxville his entire time at the Madisonville and Chattanooga schools.
“I have nothing but good things to say about Chattanooga State. The administration, athletic director, the whole school were very supportive of our program,” Walker said. “Dr. (Jim) Catanzaro, as the president, is obviously the leader of the ship, and Coach (Steve) Jaecks is an outstanding athletic director. They gave me an opportunity to expand on what we had created at Hiwassee, and I will always appreciate that.”
Said Jaecks: “Bart gave Chattanooga State four great years of basketball. He has goals he feels can be met by making a move, and we thank him and wish him the best.”
Jaecks said he would meet Monday with Catanzaro, now at the Tennessee Board of Regents meeting, to “formulate the plan” for finding Walker’s successor.
“We see this as a real attractive job,” Jaecks said. “Chattanooga is a great place to live, and we have a great reputation in all our sports.”
