The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/678402
2016 BASKETBALL RECRUITING ISSUE Beilein started to see improvement last summer on the AAU circuit, hav- ing challenged Watson to prove his versatility. Medina (Ohio) High head coach Chris Hassinger — the men- tor of another 2016 U-M signee in 7-1 center Jon Teske — said Watson only continued to get better throughout his senior season. "They're down the road from us, and I got to see a lot of him," Has- singer said. "He's really become a player. There were a lot of things I saw him do he hadn't done before, and he's really grown." Never was that more evident than in Watson's last prep game, the Ohio North-South All-Star game in which he scored 20 points in a 136-111 win over Teske and Michigan point guard signee Xavier Simpson's North squad. Though Lima (Ohio) Senior's Simpson won Mr. Basketball in the state this year and scored 18 points in the game, Watson was the best of the U-M sign- ees on the floor. What stood out the most was his improved handle and athleticism. He was the most athletic player on the floor, in fact, finishing alley-oops and playing above the rim. His cross- over from the top, followed by a one- handed jam through the middle of the defense was one of the best plays in the game. "I've been working at it," Watson BY CHRIS BALAS I bi Watson's journey from Pickerington (Ohio) Cen- tral prep to Michigan signee was as challenging as the construction-heavy drive up I-75 from his hometown to the Great Lakes State. The 6-5 standout, a Rivals.com three-star prospect, had long been enam- ored with head coach John Beilein's program, but the carrot the Michigan coaches laid out for him — an offer — took some serious navigation. Watson had heard about U-M from Pickerington Central graduate and Wolverine standout Caris LeVert and had gone to the Michigan summer camp to pay his dues. To earn his offer, though, he needed to prove he was more than just a shooter, a label bestowed upon him during his first three years of high school.