Walter Pitchford Season 2012-13

Career Honors

• Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2012; Spring 2013, 2021)
• Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2015)

Career Recap
Walter Pitchford closed a two-year career at Nebraska on March 30, 2015, when he announced he was forgoing his senior season and complete studies toward his degree. Pitchford was a two-year starter for the Huskers, starting 57 games during his tenure at Nebraska.

2014-15 (Junior)
Pitchford was the Huskers’ starter at center for a majority of the season, making 26 starts and playing in 30 of 31 contests. He ranked third on the team in both scoring (7.2 ppg) and rebounding (4.6 rpg) while finishing second on the team in both 3-pointers (37) and blocked shots (14). Pitchford reached double figures nine times, including a career-high 19 points against both Tennessee-Martin and at No. 16 Maryland. 

During Big Ten play, Pitchford appeared in 17 contests, missing only the Illinois game because of a hip flexor injury and made 14 starts. He averaged 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest, ranking second on the Huskers in rebounding and third in scoring. He reached double figures five times, including 19 points in 32 minutes off the bench at Maryland when he went 5-of-10 from 3-point range. He also had a 14-point effort, including a trio of 3-pointers, in the win over Northwestern. He also played a major role in the win over Minnesota, grabbing a season-high 11 rebounds and holding Maurice Walker to just four points on 2-of-8 shooting. His best stretch in Big Ten play came in late February when he had a three-game stretch averaging 13.6 points per game, including 44 percent from 3-point range.

In non-conference action, Pitchford overcame a slow start to average 7.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. After making just five of his first 24 shots from the floor, including 1-of-16 from 3-point range, Pitchford broke out against UT-Martin, hitting 6-of-10 from 3-point range to top his previous career bests in both points and 3-pointers. After helping the Huskers to a win at Florida State with a pair of 3-pointers, he reached double figures for the second time of the year in the loss to Incarnate Word with 10 points. His best performance in non-conference action was saved for a double OT win over Cincinnati when he had nine points and 10 rebounds while playing a career-high 48 minutes. That effort sparked him during a four-game stretch where he averaged 9.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, including a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds at Hawaii and 10 points and eight rebounds in an overtime win against Loyola Maryland. He closed non-conference action by scoring all nine of his points and grabbing five rebounds in the second half in a win over Ohio at the Diamond Head Classic.

2013-14 (Sophomore)
Walter Pitchford developed into a solid starter for the Huskers, and his maturation into a solid scoring option played a major role in Nebraska’s success during the second half of the 2013-14 season. He played in all 32 games, including 31 starts, and averaged 9.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-10 forward ranked among the Big Ten leaders in both field goal percentage (.473, 10th) and 3-point percentage (.410, seventh) in his first season at Nebraska. Pitchford was tied for second on the team in 3-pointers, (48) third in scoring and blocked shots (18) and fourth in rebounding, as he was one of six Huskers to appear in every game. His reached double figures 18 times, including 11 times in the final 14 contests, when he averaged 11.0 ppg on 53 percent shooting. Pitchford, who had a pair of double-doubles, also put together a unique streak, going 339:23 without committing a turnover dating back his season at Florida before it was snapped on Jan. 9, as he was the last rotation player in the country to commit a turnover in 2013-14. He tuned in a solid effort against No. 24 Ohio State in the Big Ten quarterfinals on March 14 with 15 points and five rebounds, but was held scoreless in 28 minutes against sixth-seeded Baylor in the NCAA Tournament on March 21.

In Big Ten action, he was one of three Huskers to average double figures, averaging 10.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game as he started 17 of 18 games, missing only the start against Ohio State on Jan. 4 as he battled flu-like symptoms. He was among the conference leaders in four categories: 3-point percentage (.426, 8th); field goal percentage .481, 11th); 3-pointers per game (1.6, 12th) and rebounding (4.8, 20th). He began Big Ten play with one of the best efforts of the year, scoring 13 points and grabbing a career-high 12 boards at No. 23 Iowa on Dec. 31, including eight offensive boards. After a five-game stretch where he averaged 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, he turned it around against Minnesota on Jan. 26. Pitchord scored seven points in the first five minutes on his way to a 13-point game on 5-of-7 shooting. That began a four-game stretch where he averaged 12.3 points per game, capped by a strong effort in a win at Northwestern on Feb. 8. In that game, he scored 13 of his then-season high 15 points in the second half, as the Huskers overcame a six-point halftime deficit to pick up their first conference road win in a year. With the score tied at 44, Pitchford hit a pair of free throws with 3:10 left to give the Huskers the lead before hitting his third 3-pointer of the game on the next possession to help the Huskers clinch the win. The road heroics would continue at ninth-ranked Michigan State on Feb. 16, when he had a career-high 18 points and grabbed four rebounds in NU’s stunning 60-53 win over the Spartans. He had 12 of his 18 points in the first half, including four 3-pointers, as Nebraska posted its first win over a top-10 team on the road since 1997. Pitchford became a consistent rebounds down the stretch, grabbing at least five rebounds in each of the final seven Big Ten games, including nine against Northwestern on March 1, when he added 10 points and at Indiana on March 5. He got the Huskers off to a blistering start against the Hoosiers, scoring the games’ first nine points as part of a game-high 17 points and nine rebound effort to give NU its first-ever win in Bloomington. He delivered the dagger, as his 3-pointer with 1:55 left keyed an 11-2 spurt after the Hoosiers pulled to within 59-58. He continued his late-season surge against No. 9 Wisconsin on March 9 with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a trio of 3-pointers in the win over the Badgers.

During non-conference action, he was in double figures five times, including a game-high 14 points against Western Illinois on Nov. 11. He turned in a solid effort against Miami in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Dec. 4 with 13 points and five rebounds, but took over after Miami pulled to within 36-31 with 7:53 left, as he scored five straight points and took a charge as the Huskers regained momentum in a key early-season win. Pitchford’s best game in non-conference action came against Arkansas State on Dec. 14 when he scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.

2012-13 (Redshirt)
Pitchford sat out the 2012-13 season after transferring from the University of Florida.

Before Nebraska
Pitchford spent the 2011-12 season at Florida, where he appeared in 13 games, helping the Gators finish 26-11 and reach the NCAA Elite Eight. He totaled six points and four rebounds in 22 minutes of action on the year.  He had two points against Virginia in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and grabbed a rebound in three minutes of action in the Gators' third-round win over Norfolk State. Pitchford played a season-high four minutes against Jacksonville in non-conference action and saw time in four SEC contests as a true freshman.

A three-star prospect by Rivals.com and Scout.com, he originally signed a National Letter-of-Intent with DePaul  prior to his senior year, but attended postgraduate school at East Lansing (Mich.) Summit Christian Academy in 2010-11, averaging 17.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game. He also looked at Indiana, Iowa and Arizona State before joining the Gator program. He also attended New Creations (Ind.) Christian School and Oak Hill (Va.) Academy and played on the AAU circuit for the Michigan Mustangs and Team Detroit. 

Personal
Pitchford is also the first NU scholarship player in basketball from Michigan since Chester Surles, who played with the Huskers during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons. Walter has one older brother, Keith, and one sister, Elizabeth. Walter, who was born on April 24, 1992, in Chicago, is the son of Walter Pitchford IV and Elaine Pitchford. He earned his bachelor's degree from Nebraska as an ethnic studies major in May of 2021.