Fisher, Walker, Fouch helping put Bronx basketball back on map

Call it the Bronx connection.

Villanova's Corey Fisher, Connecticut's Kemba Walker, and Drexel's Chris Fouch have been friends since childhood. Over the years, they have become perhaps the biggest supporters of one another.

When one player has a stellar performance, it's not uncommon for him to receive a congratulatory text message from the other two. When things aren't going well, he can always count for an uplifting phone call or text from the others.

The three close friends are collectively putting the Bronx back on the college basketball map.

Former teammates at New York's Rice High, Fouch, 20, and Walker, 20, are best friends. Fisher, 22, met Walker when the two were teammates at IS 174 Middle School. Walker introduced Fisher and Fouch before a basketball game in 2008. At the time, Walker and Fouch were sophomores at Rice, while Fisher was a junior at St. Patrick in Elizabeth, N.J.

"You know playing basketball in New York is big, period," said Fisher, a 6-foot-1 senior point guard for the Wildcats. "But a lot of people don't come from the Bronx. You might hear of them coming from Harlem, Queens, or Brooklyn.

"But you know, we had a lot of people that came before us that were real good. So us trying to continue the things for the Bronx is just good for us."

The three are often treated like heroes when they return home.

"People are proud of us, and we are proud of ourselves," said Walker, a 6-1 junior point guard. "But at this point, we are all just enjoying our year."

Walker is regarded as one the nation's best players.

The lethal scorer was college basketball's midseason player of the year, according to the Sporting News. He is a finalist for the Oscar Robertson and John Wooden national player of the year awards. He also is a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, which goes to the nation's top point guard.

The hard-to-stop 20-year-old averages 23.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.8 steals per game.

Fisher is the face and leader of the Wildcats.

The preseason all-Big East selection leads Villanova in scoring (15.5 points per game), assists (4.8), and steals (1.5). He tallied a career-high 34 points against DePaul on Feb. 19.

Fouch is recognized as one of the Colonial Athletic Association's best reserves.

The 6-2 redshirt sophomore shooting guard led the Dragons in scoring (14.9 ppg.), three-pointers made (62), and three-point percentage (33.3).

"We try to surpass each other," Fouch said of his statistical rivalry with Walker. "We always try to do better than each other, no matter what it is. We are really good friends off the court. But when we are on the court, it's a whole different story."

On the court, there are few players in college as talented as Walker. If he applies for the NBA draft, the former McDonald's high school all-American has a shot to become a lottery pick.

If that happened, Fisher won't be surprised.

"I remember basketball tryouts at IS 174," Fisher said. "We were trying out, and our whole team was good. I think he was the only person in the sixth grade to make the team."

But Walker will tell you that Fisher is one of the reasons he's so good. In middle school, Walker looked up to and aspired to be like him.

"Growing up, just watching him play, it was just a special experience for me," Walker said. "He was good. In the eighth grade, [he] was one of the better dudes in the country already for his age. It was just fun to be around him."

Initially, he didn't like being around Fouch.

Playing on rival youth basketball teams, the two were fierce competitors in the eighth grade. But all that changed the summer before their ninth grade season at Rice. The two attended the same summer school class and were inseparable until they went off to college. Some might argue that they're still inseparable during the summers.

"I go out to Drexel every summer just to go see what he does," Walker said. "I go to work out and just chill. Any free day that I have, I go out there."