What happened with Walter's NBA career? Almost instantly traded to the Spurs. Averaged over 17 for San Antonio for two consecutive years. Then traded again and saw is PPG drop below 10. Then out of the league.
Just going to pass along info and an opinion that I heard from a former college coach who has since worked for two NBA teams when I posed that question to him-he stated NBA salaries for non stars were not that great at that time and Berry had a better financial career playing overseas.
Unfortunately the NBA started focusing more on defense (never his forte) in the late 80s. Offense was never an issue. Plus the euro dollars being thrown at him was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Walter Berry made a decision to go overseas and play in the Euroleague. It was written in his contract that he had to be the highest paid player in Europe. Some don't understand that you save a lot of money in taxes, have free housing and a car overseas. He made a business decision that appears to have worked out very well for him.
I am strictly talking about his time as a college player. FWIW he had a stellar career in Europe.
Walter played center for us his Jr year. Not a traditional big, but he nearly averaged a double-double, so that's pretty "big" by any standard. Anyhow, I did qualify my initial statement by saying "centers and PFs".
And when Wennington graduated, had to man the 5 spot & guess he did “ok“ per Monte’s stats. Just an awesome interior guy
I loved Walter Berry. He played a huge role in my becoming a fan of the Johnnies during '84-'85 season. Anyone who knew me probably got tired of hearing me speak so highly of Berry for two seasons, lol.
Unguardable his junior year. Only a sprained ankle slowed him down. Was not 100% against Auburn.
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In addition, I had a chat with Walter in summer of 84 I believe and he was talking to me then about Antoine Carr a great forward for Wichita State who was playing in Europe. Walter told me then about what Antoine was getting paid and the great benefits. I knew then and there that he had done his homework and would have no problem playing in Europe. As much as I wanted to see him return for 86-87 I applauded his decision, after crying, as he did what was best for him and his family. And from speaking with people who have remained close with Walter he has done very well in business over the years , even after his long career in Europe, and is in super financial shape. Very very proud of him. And if members of SJU were instrumental in helping him over the years all the better. A very nice person, a phenomenal bball player as Monte pointed out, and a great success in life.
Sonny Smith, Auburn's coach, also used a box-and-1 defense to minimize Berry's effectiveness. Auburn had NBA talent on their team as well with Chuck Person and Chris Morris. I remember they had this tough, well-built point guard as well. Not to mention, they could shoot the ball unlike our team with the exception of Ron Rowan.
With all due respect to Louie, I don't see how Walter would have improved his outside game enough in one year to make much of a difference. If he came back, he'd still be a 4 or 5. He didn't have the skill sets to play the 3: no right hand, wasn't a good dribbler and couldn't shoot from much beyond 10 feet.
Great write up on Berry.I loved Walter Berry. He played a huge role in my becoming a fan of the Johnnies during '84-'85 season. Anyone who knew me probably got tired of hearing me speak so highly of Berry for two seasons, lol.
Here's an excerpt I read from a piece of the top 40 Big East Players of All-Time per Hoyasaxa:
"He is his own worst enemy," said Blazers GM Bucky Buckwalter. "Before we took him, we spoke with St. John's [about his work ethic]. They said he had made great progress. He was here only about a month before we found out the work ethic wasn't what it needed to be to make it in this league."
Berry averaged 14.1 points per game but was shopped to four different teams in three years. Stories circulated that Berry routinely feigned illnesses to get out of practices, and cited nonexistent injuries to get out of games. One NBA trainer called him the laziest player in the game.
"There was the time when Berry went out and played ...the game of his life against the Los Angeles Clippers, then went dancing that night and showed up on the team bus the next morning saying that he couldn't play the next night because his back hurt," wrote John Valenti of Newsday in 1989. "The team was headed to Portland, where Berry figured to be booed."
