Basketball
Favorite athlete: Russell Westbrook
Favorite team: Sixers
Favorite memory competing in sports: Going undefeated and winning SOL Chip
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Checking into the game with my warmup still on
Music on my playlist: Hip-Hop and R&B
Future plans: Get my doctorate in physical therapy and play collegiate basketball
Words to live by: “Your struggles develop your strengths.”
One goal before turning 30: Make it so my mother doesn’t have to work anymore
One thing people don’t know about me: I actually liked playing baseball more than basketball
By Ed Morrone
It’s not uncommon for young athletes, and basketball players in particular, to want to achieve their dreams in order to make sure mom never has to work another day in her life.
Cheltenham senior guard Eli Walker falls into this category too. But unlike, say, Kevin Durant or LeBron James, Walker has different plans than making it to the NBA in order to give back to the woman that brought him into the world.
Those plans will hopefully culminate in the form of a diploma that bears three words: Doctor Elias Walker.
Walker’s vision to alleviate his mother’s stress and hardships has him playing basketball while he pursues his undergraduate degree — right now the leader for his services is Division-III Wilkes University — before ultimately moving on to earn his doctorate in either Physical Therapy or Pharmaceutical Studies. While it’s taken some time to come into focus, Walker sees his aspirations clearly on the horizon. There’s still work to be done on the basketball court for a Cheltenham team having a historically unprecedented successful season (more on that soon), but no matter where Walker is or what he’s doing, his mama is always on his mind.
“My big motivation is her, because she instilled all of this in me since kindergarten, just making sure I’m working hard and staying on top of my stuff,” Walker said. “It starts with her. Everything I do comes with her in mind. I love that woman to death, and if I need to put myself in a great position for her, then that’s what I’m going to do.
“I don’t have a father around, just father figures, so it’s always been me and her. She motivates me in all aspects of my life. I can go to her for anything, any kind of advice I need. There was a time when I didn’t really believe in myself. Sports in general take a toll on you mentally when things don’t go your way, and I’ve always had her there to keep me grounded. And I never let my grades go down because she stays on top of those too.”
She is doing a fantastic job as Walker’s overseer, as Cheltenham’s starting point guard also boasts a composite grade-point average north of 4.0. Patrick Fleury, Walker’s head coach, said Walker already had enough credits to graduate coming into his senior year, which would have allowed him to take it easier on himself in his final year of high school. Instead, Walker did the opposite, loading up on classes like Probability & Statistics, Sports Leadership and Honors English.
Walker is quiet by nature, a deep, cerebral thinker who is obsessed with undertaking big challenges. He never takes shortcuts: in the classroom, on the basketball court or just life in general.
“He has so many other interests in life, so he’s not just a one-trick basketball pony,” Fleury said. “Eli embodies everything about the commitment, sacrifice and dedication we ask of our players. Without question, in eight years he will be Dr. Walker, unless he decides to do something else.”
Walker may not be a doctor just yet, but he has been surgical in carving up opponents on the court for Cheltenham this season. Every single one of them, in fact. Cheltenham won its 26th game of the season on Tuesday night with its 63-53 District One 6A win over Perkiomen Valley. That is an impressive number while standing on its own, but it’s magnified when considering the Panthers have won 26 games in 26 tries.
Yes, you heard that right: third-seeded Cheltenham enters Friday’s quarterfinal contest against Plymouth Whitemarsh with a 26-0 record, giving Walker and company the opportunity to do something few teams ever sniff: produce a perfect season to match his flawless GPA.
Walker has been a full-time varsity starter since his junior year but has been in the program all four of his seasons. Like many, he played on the freshman squad and started with jayvee as a sophomore, though he got some varsity experience as a swing player and made it clear he belonged on the big stage by the end of the season. Cheltenham has won a lot since Walker’s freshman season: in that period, the Panthers are 82-15 overall, so the fact that they are unbeaten in late February isn’t that outside the realm of normalcy.
Still, for a team that bowed out in the district quarterfinals last year and lost in the championship game the year before, there is a sense of purpose fueling this year’s iteration of the Panthers. And make no mistake about it: Walker is the motor that makes this machine operate.
He’s not the Panthers’ leading scorer, and his points per game average of 7.0 is relatively modest. Walker took only three shots in the win over Perk Valley, but spend time watching him play or talking to his head coach and it becomes clear that Walker impacts the game in a multitude of other ways. He pulls down almost five rebounds a game despite standing 5-foot-10, while also adding four assists and 2.5 steals per night. Not only that, but Walker is an elite, ferocious defender with next-level quickness and intelligence on both ends of the court.
“He could average 14 to 18 points per game, but he expends his energy elsewhere to make sure his teammates succeed,” Fleury said, before rattling off all the ways Walker impacts a game. “He gets downhill, makes plays for others, defends and rebounds at a very high level. He’s a guy who sacrifices for the betterment of our team. Eli is a jack-of-all-trades, and who he is and what he stands for is the reason for the success we’ve had. The heart and soul of what we’ve been able to accomplish.”
Walker actually preferred baseball before high school, but eventually basketball won out as his legitimate love. Baseball was just fun in comparison. When asked about his earliest memories that made him gravitate toward basketball, his answer is no different now than it would have been in kindergarten.
“Defensive love of the game and seeing my teammates happy,” Walker said. “Then, when I first got to Cheltenham, I learned by watching older guys like Zahree Harrison, how he led and kept the guys up and energetic. Even when he got hurt, he was still cheering at every game, and not wanting us to lose just because he was out. It made me want to always be a good teammate, and I gained a stronger work ethic.”
Despite the fact that Cheltenham played just 16 games in Walker’s COVID-shortened junior season, he said the campaign did wonders for his confidence, showing he belonged in his first full varsity year. He continued to sharpen his leadership prowess and held himself to the highest standards, which trickled down to his teammates. Despite a loss to Lower Merion in the district quarters, Walker felt an already close team mesh even more, on and off the court.
This has been the catalyst of Cheltenham’s current historic season.
“The bond has been the key to this season, now more than ever,” Walker said.
He knows that words like brotherhood and family are thrown around a lot when it comes to successful sports teams, but with Cheltenham, the trust and love for one another is on another level.
“There’s no pressure to stay undefeated, because we know we can always look to each other when one of us is down,” Walker continued. “That, plus a great coaching staff that trusts us and gives us wisdom, it’s a real family. For real.”
Every member of the Cheltenham basketball family, player or coach, looks up to one another, and in turn means they all know they can count on each other when adversity comes calling. Despite having a cohesive, successful team a year ago, Walker said he felt that the players — himself included — were too focused on their own individual play. That made them a good team, but not a special one.
Clearly, that has changed.
“Now, I have a better understanding that I can affect the game in more ways than just scoring,” Walker said. “I have great scorers all around me, so if I can put those guys in positions to do well and the team is doing well too, then that makes me look good as the leader. We’re winning now, so it’s going well for everyone.”
Whether or not the Panthers finish undefeated while adding district and state championships to the school’s trophy case remains to be seen. Walker said it would be disappointing for Cheltenham to not accomplish those goals, especially considering he felt they were good enough to do so last season. At the same time, there are a lot of good teams in District One as well as the state of Pennsylvania, so even if the Panthers do eventually lose a game, it won’t diminish Walker’s legacy. Not even a little bit.
“He’s amazing, and a Hall of Famer for sure in my book,” said Fleury, who played point guard for Cheltenham in the early 2000s. “He’s changed our program on both sides of the basketball. To see how he makes winning plays consistently, I have a fond appreciation for that. What he does is he enjoys making his teammates better. Wins and losses are part of it, but he has taught me that being a bright spot in people’s lives is more important than the game result. Any kid who comes through Cheltenham needs to have a little Elias Walker in them, as far as tendencies and focus, if they want to be successful. This is a school where if you don’t do the work, you are going to fail. He understands that he is doing a job and what is expected of him. From there, he just took off.”
Of course, Walker’s stock is still rising. This chapter is still just the beginning of his story, one that will take him to Wilkes in northeast Pennsylvania, or perhaps another school that hasn’t entered the picture yet. Wherever he lands, basketball will be a part of it, but not the most important one, which really is no different than his current circumstances. Walker deeply respects the student part of student-athlete, because if he dogged it in the classroom then that would be letting his mother down, an unacceptable option.
So, whether it’s Wilkes or somewhere else, Walker’s decision will come down to what else the institution can offer him beyond basketball. Anything else is a nonstarter.
“Wilkes has my major, so right now it’s the best opportunity,” he said. “It’s the best of both world because I can still play basketball to keep me on the go and stay out of trouble in college. School and basketball take up my whole life,” which is exactly how Walker prefers things to be.
Back at Cheltenham, it’s hard for Walker to believe this incredible ride is almost over. However, it concludes, Walker will be immensely grateful for the experience he has enjoyed.
“I am not very social in general and I don’t say much, so sports got me all the friendships that I’ve built over the years,” Walker said. “The recognition I got from basketball is great, but the bonds I’ve built is what I will miss the most.
“Coming into ninth grade, my class always had big dreams. We knew we could become the best, and now we are undefeated with the potential to win a district ‘ship. We’ve all played together so long, since elementary school, so it goes back to how it’s such a strong brotherhood here, having been with each other so long. Stay within the process, because it will work.”
