Missouri University of Science and Technology Men's Basketball

Bill Walker, a former player for the Miners during the 1980s, returned to campus as the 15th \head men's basketball coach in the history of the Miner program on April 1, 2019. Walker spent the five previous seasons as the head coach at the University of Illinois Springfield – who competes in the Great Lakes Valley Conference along with Missouri S&T – and returned to the place where he played his collegiate basketball from 1984-87 under Billy Key. "I want to express my thanks to (former S&T director of athletics) Mark Mullin for letting me come back to Rolla to guide my alma mater," Walker said.  "I always loved my time at the university and no matter where I've been, I have followed the program closely and have been rooting for it from afar.  It is a great honor to come back and occupy the seat that was held by Billy Key and Dale Martin, which they held so honorably during my time there as a student-athlete.   "I have seen that gym rocking in the past, both when I played and during the years when Coach Martin had some of his really good teams," Walker added.  "I know this is a program with a lot of potential.  Missouri S&T itself has done a number of things that are trending in the right direction, including improving the facilities and growing the enrollment and my goal is to bring the men's basketball program back to that past level of excitement." Missouri S&T has gone 77-83 in Walker's first six seasons at the helm.  After going 25 years without finishing over the .500 mark, S&T went 16-12 during the 2022-23 season and 15-12 in 2023-24.  The 16 wins in 2022-23 also included a victory over a Missouri-St. Louis team that advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.  All five of S&T's primary starters during the year earned recognition from the GLVC -- three to the All-GLVC team, one to the league's all-defensive team and one to the all-freshman squad. In 2023-24, the Miners posted a victory over NCAA Midwest Regional finalist Northern Michigan during the season and had one All-GLVC performer in Ikenna Okeke. The team went on to have their best season in 30 years during the 2024-25 campaign, where the Miners wen 25-6 and 17-3 in conference play to claim their first GLVC Regular Season title. They earned the #1 seed and co-hosted the Midwest Regional at the University of Illinois-Springfield, making it to the second round. The team was not short on accolades during the season, with Lovell Williams and Andrew Young earning First-Team All-Conference as well as All-Region awards, while Alex Benassi and Williams made the GLVC All-Defensive team and Zac Brown was an All-Freshman team honoree. Bill Walker earned both GLVC and NABC Midwest Region Coach of the Year. Since completing his playing career, Walker – who graduated from Missouri S&T in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in history – went into the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant under legendary coach Gene Bartow at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.  In his last season at UAB, the Blazers finished third in the National Invitational Tournament. He moved on to become a full-time assistant at two institutions that the Miners were competing against at the time in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, first for seven seasons at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and then for three years at the University of Central Missouri in his hometown of Warrensburg, Mo. After his time at UCM, Walker moved up to the NCAA Division I ranks as he spent eight years as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota, where the Golden Gophers recorded five winning seasons and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2005, along with four appearances in the National Invitational Tournament.   While at Minnesota, he helped recruit Big Ten "Freshmen of the Year" Rick Rickert in 2002 and Kris Humphries in 2005, as well as bringing in a recruiting class in 2001 rated as one of the top 10 in the nation that year. Walker left Minnesota following the 2006-07 season to join the staff at Texas A&M University, where he spent the next four seasons and helped the Aggies to four consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament; three of those teams advanced to the second round of the tournament.  Texas A&M had a record of 97-40 during those four seasons when Walker was a member of its staff. Following the time at Texas A&M, Walker worked for two seasons as a professional scout for the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association before returning to the coaching ranks in 2013 as an assistant coach at Drake University.   Following one season at Drake, Walker was named as the head coach at UIS, where he took the Prairie Stars to back-to-back 14-win seasons after they had finished below the .500 mark in seven of their first eight years as a member of the GLVC. Athletics run deep in the Walker family.  His father, Floyd, served as the director of athletics at Central Missouri and is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Director of Athletics Hall of Fame, while his sister, Barbara, recently retired from her position as the deputy athletic director and senior woman administrator at Wake Forest University.  Walker's son, Vince, played for him at UIS and now serves as Missouri S&T's assistant men's basketball coach.

Coach Walker joined the Miners Men’s Basketball program in June of 2025. Walker previously served as the assistant men’s basketball coach for Southwest Baptist University for two seasons where he aided head coach Aaron Niven in coaching duties during the 2023-2025 campaigns.   Prior to joining the Bearcats, Walker was the Director of Basketball Operations for men's basketball at Division I Abilene Christian University. He assisted in coaching duties both in practice and games, including skill refinement. He aided in the development of former All-Conference player in Airion Simmons. He also assisted in the program's youth camps, social media oversight, and other duties.   Prior to being a Wildcat, he spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Pittsburg State University, former MIAA foe of the Bearcats. While with the Gorillas, he coordinated meals and travel while also working on game scouts. He was the lead recruiter for All-Conference point guard and All-Conference forward.   Walker is an alumnus of University of Illinois Springfield, where he left as the team's all-time leader in threes made. While being a team captain for two years, he was also a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, University of Bible Fellowship Club, and the Student Athletic Advisory Committee.   Walker earned his undergraduate degree from UIS in 2019 with a BS in Business and a BA in Communications. He earned a master's degree in human resources development while at Pitt State.  

Darren Bizarri begins his fourth full season as an assistant coach for the Miners after joining the program in February 2021.  Bizarri came to S&T with nearly 30 years of coaching experience. Prior to coming to Missouri S&T, Bizarri served as the head coach for 14 seasons at Black Hawk College, a Division II junior college in Moline, Ill.  He left the Black Hawk program as the winningest coach in program history with 205 victories and the longest tenured coach in school history.  In his first two seasons as head coach, the Braves won more than 20 games for the only time in program history.  In addition, his teams also posted five consecutive winning seasons for the first time in school history. While at Black Hawk, 11 players that played for Bizarri went on to play at the NCAA Division 1 level. Prior to joining the college ranks as a head coach, Bizarri coached at the high school level as the head sophomore coach at Moline High School in Moline, varsity assistant at Alleman High School in Rock Island, Ill., and head varsity coach at Westmer High School, in Joy, Ill. During all of his stops, Bizarri was also active coaching on the AAU basketball circuit, running the Illinois Gunners program before later coaching in the Quad City Elite organization. A native of Taylor Ridge, Ill., Bizarri played collegiately at Black Hawk College, where he served at team captain during the 1988-89 season before starting his coaching career as an assistant at Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa in the 1990-91 season.  

Parker Long joined the S&T men’s basketball staff as an assistant coach the fall of 2025, after teaching and coaching for one year in Sikeston, Mo. Before coaching, Long was an outstanding player for Maryville University, where he made the GLVC's All-Freshman team in 2019-20 when he led the Saints in scoring with an average of 13.1 points per game. He set the school record for assists by a freshman with 106 and ranked fourth in the GLVC with 4.1 assists per contest. During his freshman season, Long poured in 32 points at Tiffin, the second-most ever scored by a Maryville freshman.  The Jasper, Ala., native, continued his playing career at Southeast Missouri State and Missouri Southern, where he took on greater leadership responsibilities, serving as team captain in his final year at Missouri Southern.