Former Kansas guard Rex Walters hired as assistant coach for NBA’s Charlotte Hornets

Former University of Kansas guard Rex Walters has been hired as an assistant coach by the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.

Walters, 52, who played basketball at KU during the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons, recently was hired as a member of first-year Hornets coach Steve Clifford’s coaching staff, along with Tyrone Corbin, Bob Beyer and Bruce Kruetzer.

Walters, who has 18 years of combined NBA assistant and college head and assistant coaching experience, joins the Hornets after most recently working on the New Orleans Pelicans’ coaching staff during the 2020-21 NBA season.

Walters, the No. 16 overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets, played for New Jersey, Philadelphia and Miami in his seven-year NBA playing career. He also played pro ball in Spain and in the ABA.

He was head coach for two seasons at Florida Atlantic and eight years at the University of San Francisco. He was recognized as the West Coast Conference coach of the year in 2013-14.

He also has been the head coach of the Grand Rapids Drive in the NBA G League (2016-17), an assistant coach in the NBA with the Detroit Pistons and an assistant in college at Valparaiso, Nevada and Wake Forest.

As a player at KU, Walters was a two-time first-team all-Big Eight selection. He was the 1992 Big Eight newcomer of the year and was named to the 1993 all-NCAA Midwest Regional team. The Jayhawks lost to North Carolina in a Final Four semifinal game that season, 78-68, in New Orleans.