basketball team lost the first 20 games of the season, the Dartmouth Athletic Council discontinued Walker's services in February 1918. At the time, The New York Times wrote: "The dissatisfaction of the student body, together with methods of coaching that were described as not in keeping with the council's idea of how a Dartmouth team should be coached, were given as the reasons for releasing Walker." He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in February 1918, but spent the summer playing minor league baseball for the Newark Bears and Binghamton Bingoes. He appeared in 20 minor league games in 1918, with a record of 8–9 and a 2.58 earned run average. Following the United States' entry into World War I, Walker served as the athletic director for the Second Naval District at Newport, Rhode Island. At the end of World War I, Walker was hired as the athletic director and head basketball coach at Rhode Island State College, now known as University of Rhode Island. During the 1919 basketball season, Walker led the Rhode Island Rams to a 7–1 record; his .875 winning percentage is the highest among all basketball coaches in the school's history. Walker also coached the school to its first ever basketball victory over Brown University's varsity. Walker left Rhode Island abruptly when the school refused to increase his $3,000 salary. The school's Board of Managers refused to reconsider even after receiving a petition signed by 147 of the school's 255 students. From 1919 to 1920, Walker served as the athletic director and football and baseball coach at the New York Agricultural College, now known as State University of New York at Farmingdale. After a year in which the football team went 2–5, Walker resigned his position in June 1920. He stated that his decision was due to the failure of the legislature to appropriate funds to carry on the athletic program at the school. In September 1920, Walker returned to the University of Chicago as an assistant football coach under Amos Alonzo Stagg. In February 1921, Walker signed a three-year contract to serve as the athletic director and head football, basketball and baseball coach at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. In his one year as the head basketball coach, Walker led the Tigers to a 17–3 mark in 1921–1922. He led DePauw's 1921 football team to a 4–3 record. Walker's baseball team finished the 1922 season