Richmond Spiders men’s basketball captain leads on and off the court

By Kate Chasin, ‘26 

Only four seniors currently playing on the 14 men’s basketball teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference have been at the same school all four years. Richmond Spiders men’s basketball captain and 6’11” starting center Mike Walz is one of them. Following the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision to permit varsity sport college athletes in every division to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL), colleges have seen a significant increase in the number of student-athletes transferring each year in search of a better contract. 

However, loyalty to family is a guiding value for Walz. “This place treated me like family,” said the Berwyn, Pennsylvania, native of his experience being recruited by University of Richmond in 2021. 

Excellence is another guiding value, if his accomplishments are any indication. He maintains a high GPA as a leadership studies and business administration major with a finance concentration, all while dedicating 40-plus hours a week to team practices, games, travel, and meetings. 

“Mike has been an outstanding teammate since his arrival on campus four years ago,” said head coach Chris Mooney. “He has dedicated himself to being a great player and great student at Richmond. He has developed and demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities while representing the Spiders. We are proud to call him our captain.” 

Last season, Walz posted the second-highest defensive rebounding percentage (23.5) and the fourth-highest assist rate (27.4) in the conference and made 46.5 percent of his three-point attempts, best in the A-10 among players with at least 40 attempts. This year, he was named to the Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team, the conference’s third-highest-tier team. 

Walz said serving as team captain is his greatest responsibility this year. The role entails participating in recruitment events, planning social gatherings, and fostering the growth of team chemistry. The latter has become particularly challenging given the growth in NIL culture, he said. But his Jepson School of Leadership Studies education has helped prepare him. 

“Professor Julian Hayter’s definition of leadership centered around a co-creational process between leaders and followers with a shared vision and goal, a principle I apply to leading the team,” he said. “Part of my role is to empower the younger guys to have a voice, to find some way to bring all these guys together into a winning culture.” 

Off the court, Walz continues to give back to the University of Richmond. This past summer, on top of basketball practice, he completed his Jepson School internship as an investment intern with the Spider Management Company, the University’s wealth management office that provides investment services to the University and nonprofit partners. 

“I was doing something good for the University, outside of being a jersey number at a program,” he said. 

He also serves as president of the University’s chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society. He said he hopes to make the program more vibrant, outlining his aspirations for the chapter to become involved with the broader Richmond community. 

In a Sept. 30 ESPN A-10 Media Day interview, the standout basketball player who sports a number 21 jersey reflected on why he has stayed and become a leader at Richmond: “It was never about the money. It was about the fit, the academics, the culture, the community, and who I could become as a person, as a leader, and as a man. Coach Mooney, the staff, and the program at large have shaped me into who I have become today.”