Bart Walker hasn’t smiled all practice. The Northwest Florida State College head basketball coach has 450 victories, 24 victories this season, two national titles, and multiple talented players with Division I interest. He’s not the happy go lucky sort of coach, strutting up and down the sideline with the intensity of a hawk.

His players clearly understand the expectations, crisscrossing the court in Xs, Stars, and Diamonds to mirror the team's movements in a game. The gym booms with the team's pregame playlist as the players spring from wing to corner to baseline.

Northwest Florida State Head Coach Bart Walker passionately implores his team during a timeout. Walker is described by fans as "a show unto himself" when fully engrossed in the game he is coaching.

However, Walker isn’t necessarily a mean coach or tyrant, either. He hasn’t screamed or berated anyone at all. The feedback is concise and direct, with no excess fat in either direction. He stopped practice once to ask for better communication, but he does so in his own way.

“It’s gonna be packed in here on Thursday, it’s gonna be packed in Mariana on Saturday. How are we going to hear each other then? If I can’t hear y’all now,” said Walker.

Northwest Florida State College is a junior college competing in the National Junior College Athletic Association. Located in Niceville, Florida, on the panhandle, the Raiders demand excellence in every sport. They have a 2,000-seat gym that would put some G-League and arenas to shame.

“The standard is not just set by basketball, it's set by Northwest Florida State Athletics. Every team here is very successful. So you better be ready because everybody here is very successful,” said Walker

The Northwest Florida State College Raiders huddle up after a hard fought practice. With a January snowstorm on the horizon, Coach Walker encourages greater focus on the upcoming games. The Raiders would lose their undefeated record against Chipola College in the following game.

That standard has produced undeniable results. The women’s basketball team has sent over 150 players to play at Division I – 23 players in the last five years.

That doesn’t count all the players they’ve sent to play Division I softball or the players on the men's side who have gone to DI, the MLB, or the NBA.

“We look at more than just the basketball player. Back in the day when I started this in 2000, I'm just looking for the best players. I didn't care what baggage they had, I'll fix it,” said Walker.

Walker’s results go beyond the record for this season. The Raiders have won the Panhandle Conference for the last 6 years straight to go with two national championships.

Northwest Florida's two national championships dominate the track that rings the inside of their arena. The placard stands over seven feet tall overlooking the court and stands.

Three different players average scoring numbers in double figures, with none averaging more than 15 points per game. This balanced attack and defense first approach prepares these players for the next level, where they likely won’t get the usage, minutes or opportunities that other Junior College breakout stars get.

Take Sophomore Guard Nevaeh Scott, for example. The Memphis product is averaging just under 10 points per game while shooting a blistering 48.8% from three-point range. Has Coach Walker completely altered his approach to giving Scott volume and play designs?

Guard Nevaeh Scott wraps an assist around her defender. Scott currently leads the Raiders in passing with 78 assists this year.

No. Scott sacrifices as much as her teammates, and uses her combination of gravity and burgeoning playmaking ability to spread the wealth.

“I started to realize, if I could be able to facilitate, it's just gonna open up for me. If I'm able to knock down shots, now it's opening up for my teammates. So just piggybacking off each other,” said Scott.

Backcourt partner Mekhia Chase benefits from both the unselfish play and gravity. She’s more of a bucketgetter combo guard, creating for herself and playing every second with toughness. It’s the only word that comes to Chase’s mind when you ask her to describe her game.

“I'll just say, tough. Even if I'm not making shots, I'll try to dive for the ball, get rebounds. I know some games they're going to try to take me out of the game. So I'm trying to do other stuff like play defense. So I'll just say tough. Physically tough. Tough buckets all around,” said Chase.

Without a pure point guard on the floor, Northwest Florida’s forwards subsequently need to pick up more of that slack and keep the ball moving. This push for versatility and skill at every position makes Northwest Florida Alumni that much more prepared for the next level.

A single black jersey and shorts hang in the epitome of a NWFSC locker.

The epitome of a Northwest Florida player is red-shirt sophomore Deborah Davenport. She’s been at the program longer than any other player and has been to multiple national titles.

Standing at 6’2”, Davenport is a captain, key defender and offensive connector. Davenport’s length, athleticism and ball-handling ability make her really threatening on defense and immediately into transition. When operating out of Hi-Lo action, she’s quick to see dump offs over the defense. The jump shot also shows some touch, though the confidence in the shot comes and goes.

Red-shirt Sophomore Deborah Davenport's superior athleticism allows her to get ahead of her opponents in transition and score easy baskets.

The challenge for Davenport and the coaching staff in Niceville is how to become more selfish on offense. Davenport’s been sacrificing for so long that finding the right times to be dominant remains a challenge.

“You really just have to listen to Bart, Zack and Tay. Like you really just have to listen to them. They know what they’re talking about. So if you listen to them, you're going to be good,” said Davenport. “That's why people don't play for him because they don't listen to him.”

Once you fundamentally change a player, and ask them to look for themselves less and take fewer risks, how do you rewire them to do the opposite and retain everything they learned?

The Raider Arena has capacity over 2,000 and can function as a hurricane shelter or emergency building as needed.

Kyla McBride is trying to strike that perfect balance. Usually playing at small forward, McBride’s role asks her to do a bit of everything. However, there’s nothing she does quite as well as going to get a bucket.

It can be a challenge to find that balance in practice daily, but McBride doesn’t mind.

“Yes, he's gonna yell, but if a coach isn’t talking to you, they don't care about you anymore. If they’re yelling at you, they see something in you and they're trying to break it out,” said McBride “That's really what drew my attention in because I wanted to win a ring.”

Kyla McBride sails toward the basket leaving defenders in her wake. The shifty second-year wing loves to get downhill and attack the basket.

McBride combines forward size with guard movement and shooting to be a threatening wing on both ends. The jumpshot is smooth but seeing her attack out of a triple threat is just as polished. The relentless attacking and consistent offense serves the team well, especially as they try to spread the ball around.

This is Northwest Florida's thesis, that you bring in a core of talented and hungry young women, let them sacrifice and push the starters of a championship team, before finally growing into their roles and making a run at the national title.

Bart Walker doesn’t share this message alone. Walker’s top assistant and recruiting coordinator is Zack Banks, who has been with the program for eight years, besides a short stint with DI New Mexico State.

“After eight years, I know exactly what he wants, the details of holding kids accountable, all that kind of stuff. So just growing, following him in his footsteps has really helped me,” said Banks.

Taya Gibson is the comparatively new coach on the staff, having played multiple years at Georgia Southern and spending a graduate assistant year at Tusculum University in Greensville, Tennessee . While Walker and Banks have won championships and built the program, Gibson is the only one that’s been in the player’s shoes. She’s the only woman on the coaching staff.

“My one ambition for this year, right now, is just to take in everything that I can,” said Gibson "Allow people to pour into me, understand, and just get better so that when it is time to move on, I know what I'm doing, I understand, and I'm prepared.”

The Raiders lost their second game of the season on Feb. 22, bringing them in line with their average from previous years. While it’s not time to panic, the margin for error for this group is shrinking, and time to get on the same page is running short.

The current crop of starters were a talkative bunch in previous years, staying light and silly while fighting for a national title. The younger group coming behind them has a much different demeanor. Practice for them is competitive and serious, with coaches praising their business-like demeanor.

In previous years, future DI standouts like Destiny McPhaul (Mississippi St.), Last-Tear Poa (LSU), and Sakima Walker (South Carolina) have willed their team over the line by ability and mentality. Now the burden rests on Davenport, Scott, Chase and McBride to deliver the same, while preparing the next generation.

The shiny court of Raider Arena.

Anita Cunha Torres Perreira is a first-year guard out of Portugal, whose first experience of the U.S. has been Northwest Florida State College. Coming from the U18 Club circuit in Portugal, Perreira always dreamed of her basketball career taking her to an American university and allowing her to become a doctor.

“I love to celebrate my teammates. I love to have fun with the game and just feel it. I think I got that a lot from 3X3, just the kind of personality that the game can bring out of us.”

The nature of JuCo is fast. No sooner will Perreira and others feel settled in the system and then be thrown into the fire. Before you know it, an athletic legacy is riding on your shoulders.

That’s where Banks and Gibson have to come back in, reifying the team’s values every single year.

“Can you come in and fit our culture? I think we've done a really good job with our culture and bringing the right kids, maybe not the best of the best, but they fit exactly what we want,” said Banks.

The Raiders head downtown for a team lunch at Papa's Smokehouse, a local BBQ restaurant that roots for the team. The players and small town community feed off each other, as Coach Walker especially preaches giving to the community that rallies to the team.

Two words are on everyone’s lips in Niceville. Toughness. Family. Two words are the backbone of decades of programmatic success in Northwest Florida. It’s what has allowed McPhaul and Walker and Poa to walk into the best programs in the country and contribute to national titles. It’s what has kept the Raiders in the hunt every single year. It’s why when players want to go the JuCo route, and want the best chance to play at the next level, they seek out Northwest Florida.

“We preach family and selflessness and the more you give, the more you get back. And I think that's in our communities like that,” said Walker “a lot of JuCos have a good fan base, but I think we have an outstanding fan base.”