Background
He was born in Rockford, Illinois.
He was born in Rockford, Illinois.
Walquist attended Rockford High School where he played both basketball and football. He graduated in 1918. Laurie served in the United States Army in 1918 and while he was accepted at West Point, he chose to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
He graduated from Illinois in 1922 receiving a Bachelor of Science in economics. Walquist starred in basketball in 1919-1920, 1920-1921, 1921-1922 and was picked as All-Conference guard in 1922. He was picked for All-Conference and All-Western in 1919 and 1920.
Walquist played with the Chicago Bears for nine season (1922, 1924–1931) and continued with the team through the mid-1930s as an assistanr coach along with Paddy Driscoll under head coach George Halas.
During his collegiate years, he was President of the Junior Class, member of Ma-Wan-Dee, and belonged to Tau Kappa Epsilon and Alpha Kappa Psi fraternities.