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"He said he didn't want to just be good, he wanted to be great," Calhoun said recently.

"When any kid tells you that, it's a big price tag," Calhoun added. "It means I can get on you every day at practice. It gives me license because you say you want to be great, and I wouldn't want you to lie to yourself, and therefore we're going to try to get you to where you can because he does have great physical attributes."

Walker, the 6-foot-1, 172-pound former Manhattan Rice star, may not be great quite yet, but he could be on his way.

He is averaging 9.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the No. 4 Huskies (14-1, 3-1), who visit St. John's on Thursday in Big East (10-5, 1-2) action at Madison Square Garden.

"He's really been a great bolt of energy for us in a lot of different ways," Calhoun said. "His quickness defensively helps us because he gets at balls and kicks them away. Secondly, he accelerates the pace of the game. He gives us seven or eight more fast-break opportunities. He's making his 3's, making his foul shots and he's always going to have a couple coast-to-coast layups.

"He's been a needed lift for the Huskies, certainly."

Walker, a Bronx native, initially chose UConn because he liked what Calhoun demanded from his players. It didn't hurt that the program has sent a slew of players to the NBA.

"Coach Calhoun told me I was going to have to work for what I want, and I was willing to do it," Walker said. "And no other school really told me that. Every other school told me I was going to come in and play right away. But Coach, he wasn't like that.

"He has a lot of pictures in his office of guys who have been through it, and guys who are great. I told him I wanted to be like those guys, and he told me 'Hard work,' and that's what I'm trying to do now."

A.J. Price, UConn's senior point guard and Walker's mentor, says Walker is making the most of his opportunity.

"He's usually one of the first guys in the gym," Price said. "He does his shooting after. He's one of the last guys to leave. And once he does, he's right in the weight room. Some guys tend to back off a little bit during the season as far as weights. Kemba's been in there every day to get stronger."

On the court, Walker and Price have combined to become UConn's latest two-headed point-guard monster. The Huskies' national championship teams of 1999 and 2004 both featured two point guards. Khalid El-Amin and Ricky Moore led UConn to the '99 crown and Taliek Brown and Ben Gordon did the same in '04. Doron Sheffer and Kevin Ollie also enjoyed great success in the mid-90s.

"I like having two guys that can run a team," Calhoun told the New Haven Register. Referring to a longtime Celtics scout, he added, "I just think it makes it easier. [Longtime Boston Celtics scout] Kevin Stacom said to me the one thing we didn't have in 2006 was another guard. We had Taliek and Ben, but that was it. Now, we have sometimes three guys on the court who can [run a team], because Craig Austrie will play with them, too."

On days when one player is not playing his best, the other can pick him up.

"That's what we lacked last year, another point guard on the team other than myself," Price said. "With Kemba, that just gives us a whole other dimension, having another point guard. There are times when we're running a two-point guard offense, and the ball handling doesn't have to rely on my shoulders so much. He does a great job controlling it and not turning the ball over. And it just makes our team so much better when you got two guards out there who can create for others, and for themselves."

Said Walker: "A.J. has some off nights, but he's fortunate to have me here just to pick him up. But some nights I didn't have a good night, and A.J. picked me up, so it's great to have that. Right now, me and A.J. are both trying to have some good games out there."

Price said he's encouraged Walker to become more "vocal" on the floor.

"He's going to be a leader regardless if he wants to or not because he's a point guard here at Connecticut, and that's what Coach Calhoun demands of a point guard," Price said. "But I just want him to be a little more vocal and just try to tell people what to do, moreso than just expect him to be able to do it."

Just a year ago, Walker was playing high school ball in the New York City Catholic League, where he became a McDonald's All-American.

Now he's got 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet, 6-9 Stanley Robinson and 6-7 Jeff Adrien to feed the basketball to down low. Quite a change.

"It's a big adjustment," he said. "I've got to learn how to throw alleyoop passes because I never really got a chance to play with any big men. Most of my life I've been playing with a lot of guards, so I'm definitely having fun out there. Just having the ability to give it to a 7-3 kid and he dunks it. Jeff and Stanley are guys who can jump out of the gym."

Walker benefited from his experience over the summer when he played for the United States' under-18 national team that reached the finals of the FIBA Americas Championship in Formosa, Argentina. Though the U.S. lost in the title game, Walker was named MVP of the event.

"It was a good experience, just the physical toughness out there," Walker said. "Those guys play a different type of game out there. It's more of a football game. The guys from Argentina were more physical."

Davidson coach Bob McKillop, who coached the U.S. team, was especially impressed with Walker's instincts last summer.

"Kemba is emerging as a leader of this team," McKillop said then. "He talks. He communicates. He gets the ball to people in the right position. You can see he's got the great instincts of a city guard."

One knock on Walker has been his shooting stroke, but Calhoun said that was improving and even compared Walker to NBA All-Star Chris Paul.

"I think he's a Chris Paul-type player," Calhoun said. "He's been making 3's as he works harder on his shooting. He's been making 80 percent of his foul shots. He made 60-something percent in high school just to show you his dedication and work ethic. He's really, really been a hard working kid for us."