Both Jacari Whitfield and Micah Walker were named the 2011-12 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Freshman of the Year, with Whitfield representing men’s basketball and Walker representing women’s basketball.

With the two selections, CSU East Bay has made conference history, as this marks the first time that a school collects both Freshman of the Year awards, and brings the total number of Freshmen of the Year awards given to Pioneer athletes to four since joining the league in the 2009-10 athletic year.

“Receiving this award was definitely a great honor,” said Walker. “It was cool to just be recognized by the conference and it was really cool that both Jacari and I got it. It really shows that our program is going in the right direction by bringing in new talent, helping to build on the talent that was already here, but I was definitely honored by the award.”

In just her first year, Walker was one of the driving forces that allowed the Pioneers to make their first ever CCAA tournament appearance. Second on the team in scoring, while leading the team in assists, Walker quickly has established herself as one of the leaders of this young women’s squad. A highlight of Walker’s rookie campaign was a game winning shot to upset Cal Poly Pomona on Feb. 11 that secured a four game winning streak for the Pioneers.

A text from head coach Suzy Barcomb informing Walker that she had just won the most prestigious award that a freshman can receive in the conference, allowed Walker to realize that her collegiate career had just began to unfold.

A Political Science major born in Reno, Nev. Walker began playing basketball in the third grade. Although basketball consumes much of Walker’s time and energy, she still finds time for simple interest such as hanging out with her family and friends and painting her nails.

“Painting my nails is my favorite thing, if you ask all my teammates they would say that ‘Micah is always painting her nails all the time,’” laughed Walker. “I sometimes paint them two times a week. I have this thing where I can’t play in a game with bad nail polish, my nails have to be fresh before I play in a game.”

The Reno native says she enjoys listening to a variety of music ranging from rap and R&B to country and techno, but her favorite artist is Trey Songz.

Walker explains that she loves learning and that academics to her are of greatest importance.

“For me it goes family, school then basketball; those are my main priorities,” said Walker. “My parents have always prided good grades and working hard in everything you do. That’s just always been the standard.”

Similarly, Whitfield recounts facing disadvantages in his life where all he could do was work hard and give it everything he had.

“Everything that I have ever had, I’ve had to work hard for,” said Whitfield. “My environment growing up was just really bad, things were just real tough so anything my parents had, I had to value, anything that I was given, I had to value because I know it came from hard work or somebody giving me some type of helping hand. My parents have made sure they’ve done everything they are able to do to make sure my little sister and I have had the best lives we could.”

The San Francisco native, who stands in at 5ft. 7in., remembers being underestimated for his height.

“All throughout high school I got a lot of ‘he’s too short, he’s too small’ often,” said Whitfield. “The coaching staff here at East Bay gave me a chance but they didn’t try to butter me up and tell me everything that I wanted to hear. They told me the truth and were honest with me and upfront. So I’m learning how to use my height as an advantage instead of a disadvantage.”

The Criminal Justice major recalls not always liking basketball and was more interested in football. However, as he grew older he began to realize that basketball was a better fit for him.
His favorite athlete is Chris Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers, who inspires him because despite being considered one of the shortest athletes in the pros, he still possesses a competitive edge, something that Whitfield admires.

Whitfield enjoys listening to rap and R&B and considers himself a big fan of the artist Wale and The Weekend.

He credits a lot of his smooth transition into the collegiate level to his teammate and Pioneer standout athlete Mark Samuels, whom he’s known since his high school playing days and who he refers to as a big brother.

Whitfield says he first found out about Walker winning Freshman of The Year honors through Twitter, then soon after found out that he too would be taking home the same award, claiming the sweep for CSUEB.

“Winning the [Freshman of the Year] award is a humbling experience,” said Whitfield. “It’s my transition into college and actually winning an award on a bigger stage than high school feels good in that some of my hard work is now being shown but that I still have more work to do.”

Both Whitfield and Walker emphasized two things in the success that they have accomplished in their young careers: the support from their family and hard work ethics that has carried them to where they currently stand. Both were quick to acknowledge that if it weren’t for the hard work put in by their families, they would not be the people that they are today.

“My parents played a real big role in my life; they inspire me in all the ways I need to be inspired. My mom and dad weren’t fortunate to have some of the things I had, they didn’t get to go to college for free and my little sister looks up to me, so it’s just the perfect position for me to be a role model and for me to just make my parents proud at the same time,” expressed Whitfield.

Both view the sport of basketball not only as an enjoyable activity, but as a refuge where for forty minutes they can leave it all on the court with no regrets.

Whitfield and Walker not only have proven themselves on the court with their Freshman of the Year Awards, but have shown inspirational persona off the court, where they have proven they have what it takes to bring success to the future of Pioneer basketball.