Derrick Walton to participate in NCAA three-point contest

Here’s the full press release. Contest is 10 pm on Thursday on ESPN.

PHOENIX, Ariz. – University of Michigan men’s basketball senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. has been selected as one of eight men’s players to compete in the 3-Point Championship as part of the 29th State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships to be held Thursday (March 30) at Grand Canyon University Arena. The event will air live on ESPN at 10 p.m. EDT.

Produced by Intersport, the event invites 24 of the nation’s elite men’s and women’s college basketball players – eight dunkers, along with eight men’s and eight women’s shooters – to compete in five different competitions.

The event will be comprised on the Be The Match Team Shootout, the Great Clips Men’s 3-Point Shooting Championship, the Marines Women’s 3-Point Shooting Championship, the Shoe Carnival Battle of the Champions, and the Denny’s Slam Dunk Championship.

An All-Big Ten second team selection, Walton had a career year from beyond the arc, recording 98 three-point field goals – the third best single-season mark in program history. He shot 42.2 percent from long range as a senior, and his 232 attempts set a U-M single-season mark.

Walton, who averaged 15.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists, helped U-M to a 26-12 overall record and a 10-8 Big Ten mark. Earning MVP honors, he helped the Wolverines win four games in four days to claim the 2017 Big Ten Tournament championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. As a No. 7 seed, U-M advanced to the Sweet 16 after knocking off Oklahoma State and Louisville the first weekend.

During the season, Walton became the first Wolverine to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists in a career. He finished with 1,471 points (22nd in school history), 562 boards (34th) and 499 assists (4th).

A complete list of participants will be released this week.

General admission tickets can be purchased for $15 at CollegeSlam.com or by calling (312) 467-2826. For more information, visit CollegeSlam.com or follow on Twitter (@CollegeSLAM).

3 Likes

1 off of 500 career assists. That’s rough.

Time for someone to watch some film and find an extra in there :slight_smile:

6 Likes

Derrick Walton finished 3rd. Advanced to the Second Round.

He and his two teammates won the Be The Match Team Shootout (layup, jumpshot, three point shot, and half court shot.

He assisted twice on two sweet Rodney Pryor dunks (including the Championship Winning Dunk). Both great assists enabled the dunks to be completed on the first attempt. One off the side of the backboard and the other a bounce in front of the net. Both were perfectly placed and Pryor and him seemed to have good vibe going.

It was fun to watch and nice to see Michigan represented. Dakich with some shootouts and good words for us too.

He joked that his son was not going to come home if he didn’t pick Derrick Walton to win.

Overall, very cool experience and Derrick Walton looked to enjoy himself quite a bit.

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I forgot to watch the finals of the 3pt comp after Derek got knocked out (and I’m too lazy to go to another site other than this one that’s bookmarked). Did Jok or the home-town kid end up winning the contest?

I never truly appreciated Jok’s shooting ability until last night in those first two rounds!

Jok won and lost on a tiebreaker to a KSU women’s player