When the final buzzer sounded and the Washington University men’s basketball team had officially knocked off defending champions Amherst College 90-68 to capture the program’s first national championship, the team predictably stormed the court to celebrate. Surprisingly, leading the rush onto the court was none other than Sean Wallis in a blue dress shirt and red tie, still months away from being fully recovered from the tibial plateau fracture and torn MCL that sidelined him for all but the first three games of the season.
“I would have loved to have been out there, obviously, but I still felt like I was a big part of the national championship… This program has made tremendous strides since I got here as a freshman. I think the attitude has really changed, our expectations have changed, and I think that the whole culture that myself and Tyler [Nading] brought here has been a huge part of the success,” Wallis, now in the fifth year of a master’s program in finance, said.
Rather than taking a passive role and focusing on his own rehab, Wallis instead decided not only to remain an active member of the team but also to ask Head Coach Mark Edwards for the opportunity to act as an assistant coach.
“I kind of took it upon myself and went in and talked to the coaches and said, ‘Look, there is a part of me that down the road could see myself being a coach, and so I’d love to take this as an opportunity to actually see it through your guys’ eyes and just be a part of it,’” Wallis said.
“I was thrilled [that he asked to help with coaching],” Edwards said. “Knowing Sean and knowing what he can contribute to the program, I knew it’s not limited to just his playing ability, and one of the things that has made him so effective in our program is that he understands what we’re trying to do and he understands how it translates onto the court. Being able to have a person on the bench like that or working with the players, I thought, was a big advantage for us.”
While many Bears fans noticed Wallis on the bench during Wash. U. home games, few knew just how active a role he had taken with the coaches. Wallis regularly met with the coaching staff before practices and helped decided what the team was going to work on. At the Final Four, the injured point guard was given the assignment of scouting Amherst in preparation for a potential matchup in the title game.
“I had watched six or seven of their [game] films, wrote all the diagrams down and even the day of [the game] went through some of the stuff at practice,” Wallis said. “That was definitely rewarding.”
After surgery, 12 weeks on crutches and months of intense rehab, Wallis is now ready to return and says he feels no lingering pain from the injury. More than five months since storming the court in Salem, Va., he is thrilled to return as a player instead of a coach.
“I’m definitely going to have the first game jitters just going back out on the court,” Wallis said. “But at the same time there is a lot more excitement than there is nervousness. Not playing made me realize how much I do miss the game, so I’m real excited for the start of the season.”
Wallis also has a lot to look forward to after this season. With the assistance of Director of Athletics John Schael, he applied for and was granted a medical hardship waiver after his injury last year; the waiver will allow him to maintain his NCAA eligibility for another year. Even if the defending national champion and D3hoops.com pre-season No. 1 Bears don’t repeat, Wallis will have one more chance to vie for a national title.
