Indiana University Athletics
IU’s Commitment To Walk-On Program Pays Off
12/4/2015 3:52:00 PM | Football
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Andre Booker, Mitchell Paige and Andrew Wilson are each integral members of Indiana's 2012 walk-on class. They're the recent success stories of a walk-on program head coach Kevin Wilson prioritized when he began coaching in Bloomington in 2011. After all, Coach Wilson was a former walk-on offensive lineman at North Carolina who knows firsthand the value of a walk-on's work.
"That group is important to me and to this program," Wilson said earlier this year. "We're not the team we are without those guys."
The walk-on life can be as unrewarding as it is a grind.
They practice the same as everyone else on the team, but there's never a guarantee of seeing the field. Players can go years, even careers, without ever leaving the bench.
Booker went from playing special teams as a freshman to not even seeing his name on the depth chart as a sophomore. As a junior, he backed up the same special teams group he played on as a freshman.
Had it not been for injuries, he may have never seen the field as a senior.
Wilson had a similar playing pattern, going from scoring a touchdown as a freshman to seeing the field in spurts.
Paige went three years without a catch. Up until this year, he was on the field for four total plays: two against Iowa last year, one against Indiana State as a redshirt freshman and one against Purdue.
He remembers every play. As far as he knew, those four snaps could have been all he ever got.
Scholarship players are naturally going to get the priority. They're the ones receiving a scholarship check every month to play the game. The walk-ons understand that, Paige said.
For every one chance a walk-on gets, a scholarship player may get 10 chances. Maybe more.
"They're going to get their chances," Paige said. "You have to earn yours."
That opportunity could come at any time. Paige remembers subbing in at practice as a freshman for one of the outside receivers on the third team who was too tired near the end of practice. Paige didn't naturally play on the outside, but it didn't matter.
It was the chance walk-ons wait for.
"To me, that's my World Series. That's my Super Bowl," Paige said.
"That turns into your gameday," Booker chimed in.
"This is one of the best things that ever happened to me," Paige said. "To him, he's taking a break. But this is my chance."
Anyone looking on at practice that day likely wouldn't have thought much of it. The practice play ultimately didn't mean anything to anyone outside of Paige. Maybe nobody would ever notice how he exploded out of his route. How he finished near the ball. How he ran off the field after the play was over.
But maybe they would.
"It takes patience," Booker said. "You've got to have the right mindset. You've got to come in here focused on your goal. For me, my goal was to play. I didn't know when. But I was going to play."
Booker's patience was rewarded in his final season. He's got eight catches for 189 yards and three touchdowns. He's had 173 of those yards and two of those TDs in IU's last three games.
Paige had 46 catches for 589 yards and five touchdowns. He also returned two kicks for scores, earning him All-Big Ten honorable mention as a return specialist.
Wilson, like Booker, has peaked late. He had 15 rushes for 52 yards and a touchdown in IU's win against Purdue that clinched the Hoosiers' first bowl appearance since 2007.
"That makes it worth it," Wilson said. "Looking back at it, I'd way rather be playing Purdue and having all those yards than be on a scholarship and not play at all."
These three aren't alone. There's dozens of non-scholarship players working behind the scenes each day to make a difference. Others are front and center, making plays on gameday each week without a scholarship.
Coach Wilson has made it clear, though. Walk-ons who work hard get rewarded. Now in his fifth season at Indiana, Wilson has awarded 40 walk-on players with scholarships to recognize their work.
Inside the Hoosiers' locker room, there's a wall dedicated to celebrating what Wilson calls "walk-on successes." The wall is covered in a collage of nearly life-size photos of every walk-on who's earned a scholarship during Wilson's tenure. Their names join their pictures on the wall to their left.
"When I saw that wall for the first time, it was pretty tight," Andrew Wilson said.
"To other guys, they might think it's cool, but to us, that's what it is. That's it," Paige added. "Because every day is a grind. You see that wall? Wow. This is possible."
Booker, Paige and Wilson are all on that wall. They've all earned a scholarship at one point or another, but unlike scholarship players, a walk-on scholarship only renews if a player earns it again.
There's a certain sense of uncertainty about it, Paige said. A walk-on can't afford to take plays off. Every year, there's a new group of scholarship players coming in that could replace him.
But it's worth it.
It was worth it when Wilson dove into the end zone against Purdue.
It was worth it when Booker took a bubble screen for a score against Michigan State.
And it was worth it when Paige took a punt return 91 yards for a score against Western Kentucky. When he turned around in the end zone, fellow walk-ons Booker, Luke Timian and Damon Graham were the first ones to greet him.
"It was a walk-on party," Paige said. "How cool is that?"
Those are the moments the work gets rewarded.
Those are the moments that keep walk-ons coming into practice each day without complaints.
Those are the moments that make Indiana's walk-ons keep coming back.
"I think I can speak for all these walk-ons when I say this is the best thing that will probably ever happen to me," Paige said.
"Walking on was the best decision I ever made."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Andre Booker, Mitchell Paige and Andrew Wilson are each integral members of Indiana's 2012 walk-on class. They're the recent success stories of a walk-on program head coach Kevin Wilson prioritized when he began coaching in Bloomington in 2011. After all, Coach Wilson was a former walk-on offensive lineman at North Carolina who knows firsthand the value of a walk-on's work.
"That group is important to me and to this program," Wilson said earlier this year. "We're not the team we are without those guys."
The walk-on life can be as unrewarding as it is a grind.
They practice the same as everyone else on the team, but there's never a guarantee of seeing the field. Players can go years, even careers, without ever leaving the bench.
Booker went from playing special teams as a freshman to not even seeing his name on the depth chart as a sophomore. As a junior, he backed up the same special teams group he played on as a freshman.
Had it not been for injuries, he may have never seen the field as a senior.
Wilson had a similar playing pattern, going from scoring a touchdown as a freshman to seeing the field in spurts.
Paige went three years without a catch. Up until this year, he was on the field for four total plays: two against Iowa last year, one against Indiana State as a redshirt freshman and one against Purdue.
He remembers every play. As far as he knew, those four snaps could have been all he ever got.
Scholarship players are naturally going to get the priority. They're the ones receiving a scholarship check every month to play the game. The walk-ons understand that, Paige said.
For every one chance a walk-on gets, a scholarship player may get 10 chances. Maybe more.
"They're going to get their chances," Paige said. "You have to earn yours."
That opportunity could come at any time. Paige remembers subbing in at practice as a freshman for one of the outside receivers on the third team who was too tired near the end of practice. Paige didn't naturally play on the outside, but it didn't matter.
It was the chance walk-ons wait for.
"To me, that's my World Series. That's my Super Bowl," Paige said.
"That turns into your gameday," Booker chimed in.
"This is one of the best things that ever happened to me," Paige said. "To him, he's taking a break. But this is my chance."
Anyone looking on at practice that day likely wouldn't have thought much of it. The practice play ultimately didn't mean anything to anyone outside of Paige. Maybe nobody would ever notice how he exploded out of his route. How he finished near the ball. How he ran off the field after the play was over.
But maybe they would.
"It takes patience," Booker said. "You've got to have the right mindset. You've got to come in here focused on your goal. For me, my goal was to play. I didn't know when. But I was going to play."
Booker's patience was rewarded in his final season. He's got eight catches for 189 yards and three touchdowns. He's had 173 of those yards and two of those TDs in IU's last three games.
Paige had 46 catches for 589 yards and five touchdowns. He also returned two kicks for scores, earning him All-Big Ten honorable mention as a return specialist.
Wilson, like Booker, has peaked late. He had 15 rushes for 52 yards and a touchdown in IU's win against Purdue that clinched the Hoosiers' first bowl appearance since 2007.
"That makes it worth it," Wilson said. "Looking back at it, I'd way rather be playing Purdue and having all those yards than be on a scholarship and not play at all."
These three aren't alone. There's dozens of non-scholarship players working behind the scenes each day to make a difference. Others are front and center, making plays on gameday each week without a scholarship.
Coach Wilson has made it clear, though. Walk-ons who work hard get rewarded. Now in his fifth season at Indiana, Wilson has awarded 40 walk-on players with scholarships to recognize their work.
Inside the Hoosiers' locker room, there's a wall dedicated to celebrating what Wilson calls "walk-on successes." The wall is covered in a collage of nearly life-size photos of every walk-on who's earned a scholarship during Wilson's tenure. Their names join their pictures on the wall to their left.
"When I saw that wall for the first time, it was pretty tight," Andrew Wilson said.
"To other guys, they might think it's cool, but to us, that's what it is. That's it," Paige added. "Because every day is a grind. You see that wall? Wow. This is possible."
Booker, Paige and Wilson are all on that wall. They've all earned a scholarship at one point or another, but unlike scholarship players, a walk-on scholarship only renews if a player earns it again.
There's a certain sense of uncertainty about it, Paige said. A walk-on can't afford to take plays off. Every year, there's a new group of scholarship players coming in that could replace him.
But it's worth it.
It was worth it when Wilson dove into the end zone against Purdue.
It was worth it when Booker took a bubble screen for a score against Michigan State.
And it was worth it when Paige took a punt return 91 yards for a score against Western Kentucky. When he turned around in the end zone, fellow walk-ons Booker, Luke Timian and Damon Graham were the first ones to greet him.
"It was a walk-on party," Paige said. "How cool is that?"
Those are the moments the work gets rewarded.
Those are the moments that keep walk-ons coming into practice each day without complaints.
Those are the moments that make Indiana's walk-ons keep coming back.
"I think I can speak for all these walk-ons when I say this is the best thing that will probably ever happen to me," Paige said.
"Walking on was the best decision I ever made."
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