Walter Roderick Sellers (born August 7, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. He played at Wilson High School in his native Florence, South Carolina, and played college basketball at UConn, where he was an all-conference performer in his senior year in 1992. After going undrafted in the 1992 NBA draft, Sellers opted not to sign for the Grand Rapids Hoops, which had selected him first overall in the CBA draft, and instead went to Europe, starting his professional career with Greek side AEK Athens. Sellers spent his whole career in Europe, playing in Greece, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey: he appeared in three Euroleague seasons and in 1999 he was the FIBA Saporta Cup Finals Top Scorer. In his 14-year career he has won 1 French league, 2 French cups, 1 Italian Supercup and 1 Semaine des As.
High school career
Sellers was born in Florence, South Carolina: his father died when he was 12, leaving Sellers alone with his brother Patrick, who was one year older than him. Sellers attended Wilson High School in Florence, where he initially played baseball, but after injuring his eye he dedicated himself more to basketball; a member of the varsity team since his sophomore year, in his junior year he was considered among the best players of the team together with his brother, and he was named Conference Tournament MVP. In his senior year Sellers was tall, and weighed ; in 27 games he scored 583 points (21.6 average), grabbed 416 rebounds (15.4 per game) and shot 197/314 (62.7%) from the field. He was a second-team all-state selection and he was named 5A Conference Player of the Year.
College career
Sellers was not recruited by major colleges until his junior year; in his senior year his brother was playing at Central Connecticut State and CCSU's coach named Sellers to Howie Dickenman, an assistant coach at UConn. Despite interest from coach Jim Satalin of Duquesne, Sellers signed for UConn in May 1988. In his first year Sellers chose jersey number 22 and he debuted on November 26, 1988 against Hartford, posting 13 points and 12 rebounds: throughout the season he performed inconsistently, and the one against Hartford was the only double double of his season. He played 16.7 minutes per game and averaged 3.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. He was second on the team in rebounds per game behind senior Clifford Robinson, and third in blocks behind Robinson and Willie McCloud.
In his sophomore year coach Jim Calhoun promoted Sellers to a full-time starting role, and the center started 35 of his 37 games. On December 9, 1989 Sellers shot 11-for-12 from the field against Maine, for a field goal percentage of 91.7%, which at the time was the best recorded in UConn history. The record has since been surpassed and is the third-best as of 2019. Sellers led the team in blocks (0.8 per game) and in field goal percentage with 53.8% of his shots converted. He was also the fifth-best scorer on the team with 8.2 points per game, and the third-best rebounder with 5.3. In his junior season Sellers had 10 double doubles, the first of which was a 21-point, 10-rebound performance against Hartford on November 27. On January 10, 1991 he recorded a career-high 14 rebounds along with 13 points against Central Connecticut. On February 27, 1991 Sellers scored 21 points and had 12 rebounds against Seton Hall. On March 14, 1991 he had 13 points and 10 rebounds against LSU, battling opposing All-American center Shaquille O'Neal during the 1991 NCAA tournament. Coach Calhoun increased Sellers' minutes to 30.8 in the 1990–91 season, and the center led the team in field goal percentage with 55.4%. Sellers had also increased his scoring average to 11.7 points per game – his first season in double figures – and he was the team's leading rebounder with 8 per game.