Bill Walton shows his wacky side during UO campus visit

Bill Walton has become well-known for his quirky conversational asides in the broadcasting booth, but a video aired during ESPN’s broadcast of Oregon’s 85-58 drubbing of Arizona showed that his off-the-court persona is not all that different.

In the clip, the basketball legend went on a tour of the UO campus before the game on Saturday, escorted by UO staff members. Wearing his usual “Pac-12: Conference of Champions” tie-dye t-shirt, he rode around in a golf cart, stopping only to marvel at the trees.

“Hey Doug, how ya’ doin’, champ?” he asked a Douglas fir tree. Later, he hugged an Oregon big leaf maple, grinning from ear to ear.

Perhaps the strangest/best/most entertaining part of the tour came when Walton runs up to a tree covered in woodpecker marks. “I am a woodpecker,” he says, knocking his face against the bark. “Come on bugs, get out of there I’m hungry!”

At the end of the tour he’s presented with a tree-hugger shirt. He immediately put it on, proving once and for all that Bill Walton cannot get enough tie-dye.

See the full video, “Walton channels his inner woodpecker,” on ESPN.com.