Bard College Athletics

Alaina Walker is in her second season after being hired in 2024.

In her first season, Walker coached five Liberty League All-Academic players and four CSC Div. III Academic All-District members. Three different members earned Liberty League Honor Roll honors during the 2024-25 season.

Walker comes from St. Thomas Aquinas after two seasons of being the assistant coach. She brings a wealth of experience and skills to her new role. At St. Thomas Aquinas, Walker's role as an assistant coach was multifaceted. She was responsible for developing, organizing, and maintaining team training sessions and individual workouts. Additionally, she was in charge of creating detailed scouting reports, honing the guards' skill sets, recruiting and assisting in the creation of promotional materials for camps and clinics. 

At STAC, Walker helped the team qualify for back-to-back East Coast Conference (ECC) playoffs, finishing runner-up at the 2022-23 ECC Championship game and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid, only fourth time in the program's history. The team finished second in the conference standings during the 2022-23 season and fourth in the 2023-24 season. During the 2023-24 season, the Spartans ranked no. 9 in the NCAA Division II East Region Poll. Walker mentored two players to ECC honors, including Sarah Ericson, a 2022-23 ECC Player of the Year as a sophomore and a D2CCA First Team honoree. 

Before St. Thomas Aquinas, Walker worked for Patient Grind Basketball and STACK Sports Performance, where she was responsible for running AAU team tryouts, practices, running group and individual sessions, and player development.  
Earlier in her career, she was the assistant coach for Pace University for one season and helped the team reach the Northeast-10 Conference Championship. Walker began her basketball coaching journey at STAC where the team reached the ECC playoffs during her first year. 

Walker graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. She was a three-year starter for the Bonnies dating back to her sophomore season. In her junior year, she helped the team make a Sweet 16 run in the NCAA Tournament and was named to the Atlantic-10 Conference All-Defensive Team during her junior year.