Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1063223
L eading Colgate by only four points, the final minutes winding down in a nonconference game at the Bryce Jordan Center, Penn State surrendered a turnover. The Raiders, pushing the ball back up the floor, could cut the Nittany Lions' lead to a single possession with an- other bucket. And were it not for Penn State senior Josh Reaves plucking the ball from the air at midcourt, that possibility might have come to fruition. Instead, Reaves quickly reversed course with the ball, dribbling up the sideline in front of the Lions' bench while head coach Patrick Chambers yelled at him to dump off to a teammate. Reaves first saw Lamar Stevens, but then he no- ticed Mike Watkins streaking toward the bas- ket behind Colgate's lone defender. Reaves floated an alley-oop pass into the paint, and the big man leaped confidently, re- trieved the ball and flushed it with authority. After the game, a 76-65 Penn State vic- tory, Reaves described that moment as "a very big momentum-swinger – just get- ting him involved, getting him going, get- ting him to understand, 'We're still here. We trust you. We're going to throw you the ball. We're going to give you every op- portunity to get back to being Mike Watkins, get back to playing your way.' " That process has been an arduous one for Watkins. His redshirt sophomore season was cut short by a knee injury he sustained in the first half of a 72-63 loss to Michigan on Feb. 21. He could only watch as the Nit- tany Lions excelled in the postseason, first earning a trip to the Big Ten tourna- ment semifinal round at Madison Square Garden, then playing their way back to New York with wins against Temple, Notre Dame and Marquette in the first three rounds of the NIT. The Lions capped their lengthy postsea- son run with a semifinal win against Mis- sissippi State and a dominant performance vs. Utah in the championship game. They did all that with their center dressed in sweats on the sideline, his right leg immo- bilized. In Watkins' absence, true fresh- M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L ON THE REBOUND PSU forward Mike Watkins is working to bounce back from on- and o"-court di!culties | WELCOME BACK Watkins had seven rebounds in his first game of the season, helping the Nittany Lions defeat 13th-ranked Virginia Tech, 63- 62. Photo by Ryan Snyder