As part of his personal farewell to McArthur Court, NBA Hall of Fame center and former Portland Trail Blazers star Bill Walton conducted a Q-and-A session with members of an undergraduate sports business class in Lillis Hall on Thursday afternoon. 
Wearing a black and gray half-zip fleece and dark blue corduroy pants, Walton entered the room facetiously shouting, “Here we go, Bruins!” in anticipation of tonight’s men’s basketball match-up between Oregon and UCLA — Walton’s alma mater — as eager students and faculty, including former Oregon athletic director Pat Kilkenny, looked on.
Walton played with the Trail Blazers from 1974-79. He was a member of the 1977 Portland championship team.
After a quick introduction, Walton gave candid answers to a wide range of student-generated questions focused on a variety of topics, from the business and economics of college and professional basketball, to life lessons he has absorbed throughout 30 years in the public eye.
Walton referenced many of his own experiences, particularly those that involved former UCLA head basketball coach John Wooden, to convey his thoughts on life, gratitude and education.
“Coach Wooden, when he told us that we had to develop as human beings, he also told us that the way to develop is by training your mind and learning how to learn,” Walton said. “Education is the number-one key to success.”
In recent years, Walton has suffered through debilitating nerve pain and explained how he has grown mentally and spiritually from
that experience.
“Your body will fail you before you ever want it to,” Walton said. “Your mind will be the last thing that keeps you going. Take the best care of that.”
The first step to nurturing one’s mind, Walton said, is to fully embrace the intellectual possibilities made available at an institution of higher learning, like the University.
“What you learn here in school you will never remember,” Walton said. “But what you will learn is how to learn, so that when that question pops up and you need an answer, you will know how to go find it.”
But Walton didn’t just share deep life lessons that he has learned throughout the course of his many experiences.
When asked what he thought of the NBA’s one-and-done rule, which requires players to stay in college for at least one year before turning pro, Walton quipped, “(One-and-done) sounds like the Pac-10 in this year’s NCAA tournament,” and the audience broke out
in laughter.
The response to Walton’s comments from the 150 or so students in attendance was overwhelmingly positive.
“He was extremely articulate,” University freshman Isaac Rosenthal said. “He’s a very good, insightful speaker, and it was really easy to tell the impact that coach John Wooden had
on him.”
University freshman Craig Loper added that he was surprised Walton’s talk seemed to focus more on life lessons than basketball and sports business.
“I didn’t expect that at all,” Loper said. “Some of the things he talked about were so true. I kind of came here expecting just basketball and what his experiences had been, but to hear his perspective about life in general was really cool.”
Walton’s session lasted about 55 minutes, and he spent nearly 15 minutes after the completion of the discussion to sign autographs and pose for pictures with Oregon students before heading off to McArthur Court to see the Duck men’s basketball team play the Bruins last night.
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