Mike Walz - Senior - Eligibility ends after '25-26 season

[Section9_RowD]

6'11", 260 lb senior center. We all know Mike—and I like Big Mike. While it was clear from his interviews and postgame comments that he felt last season was a disappointment, I actually think he was our overall most valuable player last season given DeLo's injury.

He averaged nearly 6 rebounds, 7.5 points, 2.6 assists, shot 46% from three on a solid number of attempts, and had three double-doubles—including one of his best games of the season with 16 points and 10 boards in that tough A-10 tourney loss to Davidson.

Mike's game is very different from Golden’s or Cline’s. He’s not as good of a passer and makes more turnovers because of that, but he’s also physically stronger, looks to be in great shape, and in my opinion should be able to play closer to 30 minutes a game instead of 20.

Let him be a big body defensively, grab both offensive and defensive boards, knock down a few open threes each game—and if we’re a top-6 team in the A-10, I think Mike could earn third team (or better) all-conference honors.

Posting a link to the postgame interview that made me respect Mike even more—he knows accountability matters and didn’t hold back. Glad he’ll be a four-year Spider.

 

[RichmondNative]

A very well spoken player for certain and accountable. I think he can improve simply by not getting down on himself and instead having a very short memory. It will be interesting to see if his utilization increases and I would say it is going to be dependent on the matchup and fouls committed.

 

[Spiderguy]

On the Rivals Site I’ve emphasized that he needs to take his shots when they are there. He’s an unselfish player, but sometimes to a fault passing up his shots for the extra pass. Take your shots, Mike. He should be a double digit scorer every game.

 

[URFan1]

He needs to be a regular double-double player.