BOULDER, Colo. — Hall of Famer Bill Walton was everything.
A dominant player, an entertaining broadcaster, and a Buffalo lover. Just ask Colorado men’s basketball head coach Tad Boyle.
“He really took interest in our players,” said Boyle, as he reminisced about Big Red. “He would pull guys aside, especially big guys. He was partial, obviously, being a center himself. Guys like Evan Battey, guys like Josh Scott. Bill really took an interest in the players that he covered. The coaches that he covered and the programs he covered. I always appreciated that.”
Boyle knows how much he meant to basketball in general, but specifically the Pac-12 Conference. “He meant a lot to this league. He loved it as a player, playing at UCLA for all those years. As a commentator he was the voice of our league. I remember after games, there would be lines up to the concourse at the event center of people just wanting to take a picture with him and say hello and he took time for everybody.”
And he cherished his time in Colorado, “Yes he loved Boulder, Colorado,” Boyle smiled. “He’d come back in the summer, obviously the [Grateful] Dead concerts at Folsom and he loved Pearl Street, he loved the restaurants, he loved riding his bike, he loved the outdoors.”
Walton had affection for many, including Jaxon Brenchley: current Denver Pioneer but once a Utah Runnin' Ute in the PAC-12. Walton befriended Brenchley, as the two would hang out at practice and even text. An almost 50-year age difference was irrelevant, says Brenchley.
“Every time you’d see him he’d say ‘Jaxon Brenchley, my hero! Jaxon Brenchley, my hero. How are you? I love the headband. Love the hair!”
Brenchley has many stories of his friend, from funny text exchanges to almost hosting the basketball Hall of Famer to stay over his house the night before a game, “My favorite part about Bill was just how he made you feel. The second you see him he made you feel like you were the biggest stud in the room. That’s something I definitely learned from him is how to treat other people. Always make them feel like they’re the biggest thing in the world to you and you mean the most to them so he just made you feel so good. So many funny stories with him, just hilarious.”
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