So, the men?s basketball team lost the two biggest games in school history, blowing a shot at its first Big Sky Tournament appearance in the process. It won?t be the first time we?ve watched the NCAA Tournament from our living rooms. And, it definitely won?t be the last.

So, the men?s basketball team lost the two biggest games in school history, blowing a shot at its first Big Sky Tournament appearance in the process. It won?t be the first time we?ve watched the NCAA Tournament from our living rooms. And, it definitely won?t be the last.

The biggest disappointment isn?t the losses nor the miffed playoff chance. The biggest disappointment has nothing to do with the team, but with an individual. The disappointment is the saga of Ronnie Walton.

Ronnie who?

You know, the local prep star who after a few dismal seasons in Oregon State and Detroit, opted to return to the city that made him a playground legend. The transfer student who was to fill the shoes left by point guard Rame Batta and lead the Hornets from the cellar of the Big Sky.

You still don?t have a clue? It?s OK, he?s been out of uniform for so long sometimes I wonder if his teammates even remember him.

Walton, who has been hampered with hairline fractures in his shin all season long, watched the final games of the season and, more importantly, the last chapter to his collegiate career from the sidelines.

It wasn?t anything like the storybook ending that other seniors around the nation received this past weekend. While Maryland?s Juan Dixon and Cincinnati?s Steven Logan put the finishing touches on their illustrious college careers, Walton slowly faded out of the picture. Dressed in street clothes, Walton could have easily been mistaken for a fan, with bad shins.

I?m not sure this is how Walton thought it would play out when he left Grant High School. But even as stops in Oregon State and Detroit ended before they began, it looked as if his final stop, Sacramento State, would be his last.

Home sweet home, right? Wrong.

Although Walton started the season as the team?s No. 1 point guard, it was never made clear. Then, wouldn?t you know it, just games before Walton?s season-ending injury fellow transfer Rashaad Hooks is thrusted into the starting line up. All of a sudden it?s Hooks? team, not Walton?s.

And, just like that, Walton was gone, banished to the end of the bench where team managers, trainers and red-shirt freshman sit. Only, he?s not jumping around celebrating like them during timeouts, his playing days are through (and he has bad shins).

While the Hornets look forward to tackling the 10-win barrier next season, Walton will not. He could emerge somewhere else, possibly in the NBA Developmental League or Europe, but most likely his playing days will end here. There will be no more transfers or pit stops for this journeyman.

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