Interview with former Marquette Basketball walk-on John Willkom

An interview with former Marquette Basketball walk-on John Willkom, where he discussed everything from the current NBA to his days with the Golden Eagles

We recently caught up with the former Marquette University basketball walk-on John Willkom to discuss his best-selling book called Walk-On Warrior: Drive, Discipline, and the Will to Win.

Q: John, do you believe it is harder to get a Division 1 scholarship when you live in a small town of Wisconsin instead of a major city like New York, Los Angeles or Chicago?

A: With the amount of exposure available now through AAU and summer tournaments, I think it’s easier for kids from small towns to get discovered. However, there are a lot of pros to growing up in a big city: you get exposed to better competition at a younger age, and success is probably harder to come by. To separate yourself from your peers, you have to be that much better.Q

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Q: Now I know you earned your MBA from Loyola University Chicago. Did you cheer for them last year as they made it to the Final Four or are you strictly for Marquette basketball?

A: Of course I did! My wife actually went to Duke, and we got a good laugh last year when I told her that one of our alma matters was in the Final Four.

Q: Do you believe colleges did not give you a chance because of your height?

Not at all. If you can play, you can play. Ultimately, the cream rises to the top, and the best players get the opportunities that they earn. For a lot of players, those opportunities may not present themselves exactly as they want them to.

For example, the success of mid-major programs relies on the kids that may have been overlooked but obviously have tremendous ability. Damian Lillard is a great example of someone who didn’t play in a Power 5 conference in college (Weber State) but continued to develop and ultimately found himself where he belonged in the NBA.

Q: How many scholarship offers did you receive your senior year of high school? 

A: I had one Division 2 offer to play in Minnesota and a handful of Division 3 offers.

Q: John you lived every kid dream of playing big time Division 1 basketball. Could you tell us what it is like to play for Marquette basketball?

A: It was incredibly hard work but worth it because I loved the game. My dad was a student at Marquette and was fortunate to witness their first and only national championship in 1977. As a kid, I grew up watching Marquette, and while many kids dreamt about playing division 1 basketball, my dream was always to play for Marquette. Because of that, getting an opportunity to play there was extra special for me.

Q: What was it like assisting legendary coach Rick Majerus and the Milwaukee Bucks?

A: Rick was such a likeable guy and kept me on my toes. In a legendary story, he sent me to Usinger’s Sausage Company in Milwaukee one day to pick up an “order” for him. When I told the guy at the front desk I was picking up for Majerus, he just laughed and told me to pull around out back. I ended up getting 88 lbs. of bratwurst, which Rick kept telling me was for an event. As the summer progressed and that sausage supply slowly diminished, it became pretty obvious where it was going.

I worked in public relations for the Milwaukee Bucks and got to assist TV/Radio personalities prepare for home games. The best part of my job was sitting courtside and watching young guys work out 2-3 hours before tip-off. There were days when I thought to myself, “I’m getting paid to sit courtside and watch my favorite team play basketball over a 41-game stretch. God, am I blessed.”

Q: The Bucks currently sits in second place in the East. Do you believe they can win the Eastern Conference this year?

A: Absolutely. Mike Budenholzer is the right coach for a young and talented team. Watching them play this year, you see a team that’s much more bought-in defensively, and they actually look like they enjoy playing together. Aside from the team itself, the owners are committed to building something special in Milwaukee, as evidenced by the new Fiserv Forum. If you haven’t been to a game there yet, you should definitely check it out.

Q: Right now, who would you pick for MVP of the league?

A: It has to be either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kawhi Leonard. Both lead the two best teams in basketball (based on records as of 12/20), and they mean more to their teams than a guy like Kevin Durant in Golden State.

Your Amazon best-selling book is called Walk-On Warrior: Drive, Discipline, and the Will to Win. Could you give our readers a little insight on the book?

Absolutely. I started writing the book back in 2003, and after almost 14 years, I was finally able to put everything together and get it published. The book itself is not a recap of games played, but rather, a raw and authentic look at what it took to play division 1 hoops. I wanted people to feel what I felt, to meet coaches like Lute Olson and Dan Hurley (UCONN), and to get into the workouts that made “Marquette Toughness” a staple that opponents came to expect night in and night out.

I hope people appreciate the honesty and ultimately walk away from my story knowing that if you have the right combination of skills and motivation, anything is possible. My journey has had many twists and turns, but the love for the game ultimately kept me connected to basketball and provided opportunities that I never would’ve dreamed of growing up in a small town.