In Jersey City, New Jersey, Jerry Walker is a superstar. Walker never played in the NBA and he doesn’t have a major endorsement under his belt, but with his Team Walker Foundation, Jerry is an all star in community work. Team Walker, a Jersey City, New Jersey-based nonprofit has been flourishing since its inception in 1997. There is a tutoring program for children who need help in certain subjects, taught by Walker and other volunteers as well as extensive recreational and cultural activities. “I didn’t have the slightest idea I’d ever be doing this,” Walker says enthusiastically. “I just knew I would eventually give back, ‘cause financially I was planning on playing basketball and making some money.”

Jerry’s basketball plans unraveled slightly after he followed up a stellar junior season at Seton Hall (14 points a game, all-Big East) with a mediocre senior year in 1993. “If I would’ve entered the NBA draft after my junior year, I would’ve been drafted in the first round” Walker explains. Instead of living out his dream to be in the NBA, Walker took his game overseas and to American minor leagues such as the IBL.

In the spring of 2000, Walker was hospitalized with an obstruction in his stomach, a malady that not only ended his pro basketball career but also gave him a further appreciation of life. “It really put everything in perspective for me in terms of life,” Walker says confidently. “Life is short and these kids don’t always realize it. I’m just speeding up their process in terms of putting them on the right track early in life instead of waiting until later on when they’re trying to play the catch-up game. A lot of African - Americans, especially in the inner city, have to play the catch-up-game in terms of academics, finance and all kinds of things. I’m trying to give them a jump start.”

GROWING UP IN JERSEY CITY, JERRY Walker attended city-run after-school programs that inspired him athletically and academically, and he never forgot how these programs taught him to believe in himself. Walker of course, went on to basketball stardom at Seton Hall, where he led the Pirates to three trips to the NCAA tournament and was named Defensive Player of the Year in the Big East Conference.

Though he left Seton Hall before earning a degree to play professional ball in Europe, Walker returned each summer to his old neighborhood, and in 1996 he and his brother, Japer, a former hoops standout at St. Peter’s University, founded the nonprofit group Team Walker. Begun as a summer basketball tournament, Team Walker has evolved into a year-round endeavor that has provided academic and recreational opportunities for more than 500 local kids.

“When I started this program, I wanted to give back to my community,” says Walker, who today lives in West Orange. “To my surprise, these kids have given so much back to me. My basketball career his taken me all over the world, but my greatest thrill has been working with the kids in Jersey City.”

In May of 2003, ten years after leaving college, Walker experienced another kind of thrill that might help motivate the kids he works with. Having finally completed his course requirements, with a major in communications and a minor in religious studies, Jerry received a Bachelor of Arts degree.