Paul Walker did all that a coach could. In his 30 years with the Middletown Middies, Walker achieved many great feats. His Middletown teams won five state championships. His first win was in 1946-47 during his first season of coaching. Paul came within one of bowing out a champion in the last year of 1975-76.

Walker ’s first Middie team lost six regular season games, but as he said later, “We put it altogether in the tournament.” They did and won the first of five titles under Walker. The other championships came in 1952, 1953, 1956 and 1957. Walker also took Middletown to the state finals in 1958 and1959, losing both times in the semi-finals, and in 1976, losing in the finals. The defeat in the 1958 tournament will rank among the biggest upsets ever in state tournament history as the Middies led by Jerry Lucas, took a 76 game winning steak to Columbus that year. Columbus North dealt the big blow, a 63-62 decision.

Walker started coaching in 1935 at Hardinsbuurg, Kentucky after graduating from Western Kentucky University where he played for the famous E.A “Uncle” Ed Diddle. He also coached at Morganfield and Anchorage in Kentucky before arriving at Portsmouth, Ohio during World War II. Walker coached in Portsmouth for a short time and landed the Middletown job in the summer of 1946 at the age of 35. During his 41 years of coaching, 37 of them were as a head basketball coach. As a head coach his teams won 695 games and lost only 169. His totals with Middletown show 562 wins and only 136 setbacks – a winning percentage of over 80%.

When Walker retired he was the winningest basketball coach in Ohio high school history and four times was named Ohio Coach of the Year. His teams won 17 District Championships, 8 Regional Championships and 5 State championships in his 30 years at Middletown. During this 30 year span, his teams were undefeated six times during the regular seasons. Also, five different players who played for him at Middletown were named Ohio Basketball Player of the Year.

Among the many honors bestowed upon Paul Walker over the years was the1974 National High School Basketball Coach of the Year awarded by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. He was inducted into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1986. The Ohio High School Athletic Association invested in a life membership honoring him at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1991, he was honored by Middletown, Ohio as one of the 91 people who made a significant contribution to the life in the Middletown area during its 200 year history from 1791-1991.

Walker was also among those who founded the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association and served as its President for two years and 24 years as Secretary-Treasurer.