Candice Walker ’11 M’13, a Loyola University Maryland alumna who played in 117 games during her career with the Greyhounds, returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach prior to the 2020-2021 season.
A Baltimore native, Walker spent the previous six seasons at the University of Massachusetts where she was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the program.
In 2019, Walker was a recipient of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s prestigious Thirty Under 30 Award, Marriott Bonvoy & Morgan Stanley Global Sports, an honor that recognizes up-and-coming coaches at all levels of women’s basketball.
During her four seasons as an assistant coach at UMass – Walker was the program’s director of operations in 2015-16 – she helped the Minutewomen improve from 9-21 in 2016-17 to the team’s first 20-win season (20-11) since 1995-96 in 2019-20.
While working closely with the Minutewomen offense in 2019-20, she helped the team lead the Atlantic-10 Conference and finish 36th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.13:1) while finishing second in the league in scoring offense (66.0). The team’s 20 wins tied a program record, it set a new mark for consecutive wins (11) and hosted and won an Atlantic-10 Tournament game for the first time since 1998.
The year prior, Walker helped Massachusetts win 16 games, the most for the program in 12 years. She also was a top recruiter for the program, adding recruiting coordinator duties to her profile in 2019, helping to assemble several nationally-ranked recruiting classes.
Before joining the staff in Amherst, Massachusetts, Walker began her collegiate coaching career at Wilmington (Del.) University from 2013-15. During that time, the Wildcats increased their win total in both seasons over that of the year prior.
Walker spent six seasons at Loyola, using two medical redshirts after injuries stalled a pair of seasons. She debuted in 2007-2008 after graduating from nearby Towson Catholic High School and was the first freshman to start at point guard for the Greyhounds since the 1991-92 season. She earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Rookie recognition, starting all 30 games and setting a freshman record with 93 assists while averaging 8.2 points per game.
Over the course of her career, she played in 117 games, a mark that still ranks 10th in school history, while making 59 starts. She finished her career with 531 points, 222 rebounds, 214 steals and 78 steals.
Since starting her coaching career, Walker has attended the WBCA’s “So You Want To Be A Coach” program, while attending numerous “A Step Up Symposium.” She is also a graduate of the Alliance of Women’s Coaches.
