Montell Watson: A dream
accomplished
Mike Vivenzio / Reporter
He walks around campus with his SoCon backpack strapped to
his back and the hood of his jacket up. He is quiet,
but at the same time his presence cannot go unnoticed.
Everyone knows who he is and he will stop and talk to
everyone who says "hi." When you talk to him, you
would think you have been best friends since early childhood.
Montell Watson has come a long way since playing on the
basket his dad put up on their long driveway in Clifton
Forge, Va. Watson is from a small town, right on the
border of West Virginia and is the only child of Angela and
Todd Watson. The two people who were most influential in his
life.
"I definitely had a great childhood," Watson said.
"My parents worked hard for everything and really took
care of the family. I never had a need or want for
anything."
Watson's childhood was quiet, except for basketball.
"A lot of the things I remember growing up relate to
basketball," Watson said.
The street Watson grew up on was comprised mostly of older
boys, generally two or three years older than Watson, forcing
him to earn his keep on the court.
"At one point, they were better than me," Watson
said. "They were physically stronger, but I always
wanted to play with them."
Watson laughs and smiles as he recalls times as a child when
he would play basketball by himself and imagine that he was
on a college basketball team playing in a big game.
"I never dreamed I would actually do it," Watson
said.
When Watson was nine years-old, his dad would take him out
to the basketball court, blindfold him and make him dribble
to improve his ball-handling skills.
"He always told me that you only get out of it what you
put into it – there is always someone better than you
out there, so you have to do what it takes to get to that
level," Watson said. "My dad definitely
influenced my life the most, in basketball and in general, he
was always so wise, he gave me my drive."
It was that drive that propelled Watson in high school. He
started on varsity all four years at Alleghany High School in
Virginia, earning All-State honorable mention his sophomore
year, first team All-State his junior and senior years, and
Division I-AA State Player of the Year his senior year.
"There were times that I would want to be inside
playing video games but I would always think that someone was
out there playing and that I should be, too," Watson
said.
But forget the accolades, because without winning, they mean
nothing to Watson. If you ask him his favorite high
school basketball memory he will not tell you any of the
individual awards, he will not mention how he averaged over
24 points per game in high school or how he scored 28 points
in his final high school game. What he will tell you is
how he helped his team reach the state tournament and advance
to the semi-finals for the first time since the early 1980s.
Watson has helped bring a rejuvenated feeling about
basketball to Elon University.
"The biggest thing about Elon and why I came here is
they were the first to really recruit me," Watson
said. "They treated me as if I was number one
priority from the beginning."
Watson credits former assistant basketball coach Tim Fuller
as his biggest influence in attending Elon.
"Coach Fuller treated me like a son the entire time and
he let me know that Coach Nestor would challenge me,"
Watson said.
Since joining the Phoenix, Watson has led the team in
three-point percentage and has stepped up to be the leader of
the team both on and off the court. On the court, he
controls the tempo and always remembers the words of his
father.
"It's a feel thing, especially as a point
guard," Watson said. "The first thing you
have to notice is what defense the other team is running, you
have to be able to recognize and read the court quickly.
It's almost like a chess match, I am constantly thinking
about what play I should call and what the best move to make
in any given situation is."
Watson's biggest moment for the Phoenix came this year
on Jan. 23, when Elon played host to the Furman
Paladins. The game was close the entire time and then
Watson took over, scoring 12 straight points to propel the
Phoenix to an 81-77 overtime victory.
"That game is unexplainable," Watson said, with a
big smile on his face as he recreates the moves he
made. "I don't even know what happened, that
was a true zone, it's like I blacked out. I don't
even remember it. I had no fears, no one had a
chance."
While it seems that Watson has a good "feel" for
the game, that is the one thing that he has always said that
he needs to improve on and the one aspect of his game that he
feels has improved the most since his freshman year.
If you asked him what his weakness is now, he would simply
reply, "my mid-range game." Watson has taken
great strides to improve that area, shooting more than 300
jump shots a day during the off-season.
While questions about his game are easy to answer, when you
ask Watson his biggest weakness as a person, the answers do
not come as quick.
Watson sits back on the couch, seemingly searching for an
answer.
While his demeanor is confident, his tan Timberlands are in
perfect condition, not a stain on his jeans and his gold
chain with a fairly decent-sized depiction of Jesus Christ
dangling from the end of it hangs from his neck, Watson is in
deep thought. He finally replies,
"I am too trusting. A lot of times I tend to
trust people too much, too fast, before I really get the
chance to know them." That is just who Watson is
as a person, always positive, always ready to lend a hand.
"That how I would describe myself: positive,"
Watson said. "I am always trying to take the best
out of a situation no matter what.
With a negative attitude, negative things will happen.
That's the way I try to live my life and that's the
way I play basketball."
As the great coach Jim Valvano once said, "How do you
go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you
have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a
dream, a goal and, you have to be willing to work for
it."
Montell Watson has had a dream, he has tried to achieve his
goals and he has worked hard every step of the way.
Contact Mike Vivenzio at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247.
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Matt
Gannon / Photo Editor
Matt
Gannon / Photo Editor