Zags Wednesday: Spotlight on Anton Watson

Gonzaga Bulldogs
Anton Watson, Gonzaga Bulldogs (photo by Steve Cheng, via Wikimedia)

This week’s spotlight starts on the best bench in college basketball. Gonzaga’s player this week is Anton Watson. The player I dubbed the Gonzaga Bulldogs “quiet enforcer.”

Anton Watson was born in Coeur d’Alene, ID, on October 6, 2000. His father, Deon Watson Sr., played basketball for the Idaho Vandals. However, his mom, Anna Hegbloom Watson, is where Anton gets his “fire.” He left Idaho and came to Spokane to attend Gonzaga Prep. Let’s look at how he became an enforcer for the Gonzaga University Bulldogs.

Watson’s early years

Watson excelled at Gonzaga Prep. According to Coach Matty McIntyre, “I get a call that this kid from Idaho is going to enroll, and then I saw him play. I was like, ‘Wow, this is the kid? He is unreal. I didn’t know anything about him until then.'”

At Gonzaga Prep, Watson played four seasons. In his final three years, he played 74 games with 1,135 points, 647 rebounds, 350 assists, 210 steals, and 140 blocked shots. So it looks like Watson was an enforcer before coming to Gonzaga University.

The “quiet enforcer.”

By the time he got to Gonzaga University, Watson was 6-foot-8 and 225-pounds. He’s a power forward, so right now, he is the number one substitute for the number one power forward in the nation, Drew Timme. As a result, coach Mark Few generally has him in the game at about the nine-minute mark of the first half.

Watson will come in the game, and right away, he’s stealing, dunking, going into the paint with as many as five of his opponents there. Then, he will grab the offensive rebound and either dunk it or send it out to one of his teammates.

His stats since his first year at Gonzaga University, like high school, improve every year.

  • In his first year, Watson played 15 games. He averaged 4.9 points, field goal percentage was .531, and rebounds 3.1 per game;
  • Sophomore year, Watson played 32 games with an average of 6.9 per game, a field goal percentage of .631, and 3.3 rebounds per game.

I don’t feel as if these numbers tell his story. You have to see him to catch his intensity. His facial expressions don’t ever seem to change. Not while he’s making a steal, dunking the ball, or fighting for and pulling down rebounds, both offensive and defensive.

The quiet enforcer’s name started with an incident at the 2021 NCAA tournament. In Round 2, the Gonzaga Bulldogs played Oklahoma. During the second half, a Sooners player pushed Jalen Suggs in the back, purposely knocking him to the ground. Watson got to him before any of the officials did. You don’t hurt his teammates… ever.

See you next week for another spotlight. If you have any ideas or want to see your favorite bench player in the spotlight, please let me know in the comments or on social media. Until then, please stay safe and healthy!

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