Blue White Illustrated

GETTING TOUGH Mike Watkins expected to bring physical presence to frontcourt ike Watkins learned to appreciate the diffi- cult beginning to his career at Penn State. His arrival having already been delayed due to NCAA clearinghouse issues last summer, the 6-foot-9, 246-pound power forward from Philadelphia ended up missing the entire season. He had been excited to get his college career under way, only to learn that technicalities would keep him out of action. "I had only been playing for three years, and then to come here and not play, and sit out when I was excited to come here and play, it was a little upset- ting for me," Watkins said. "I was ready to get on the court and show people what I was capable of doing." In a few weeks, he will finally have that long- awaited opportunity. Watkins will take to the floor for the Nittany Lions, two years removed from his senior season at The Phelps School, where he averaged 14 points, 11 rebounds and 6.5 blocks per game. He's put on eight pounds of muscle and says he has developed a left hand that wasn't part of his game a season ago. Chambers, who was dismayed by the decision that prevented Watkins from participating last season, is happy to accept the contribution. "Mike's going to dominate the paint, and he runs like a gazelle. He's going to run rim to rim," the coach told reporters after the season. To do so, Watkins had to shake off the disap- pointment of missing his true freshman season. The process of getting his head "back together" and "focused again" took at least two weeks, he said. He eventually came to the realization that his forced absence wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to him, and he grew to appreciate the benefits that could come as a result. "The way we work out up here, I knew I was FORWARD THINKER Watkins is look- ing to bring an aggressive atti- tude to the Lions' frontcourt this season. Photo by Mark Selders/ Penn State Ath- letics M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L | M

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