Small Town Sophomore Has Five Favorites

Hailing from Greenville, Georgia (population just under 1,000), Shaun Watson defines the small town high school star with his scoring abilities and pure athleticism. His antics have the townspeople talking after every game. Now, he’s ready to make his name known the entire country. The 6-foot-5, 190 pound wing already has five high major programs charting his success.

Watson, a 6-foot-5, 190 pound four-star wing, is the No. 25 player on the Rivals50 for the class of 2006. He says he has had interest from several high majors including Wake Forest, Florida, Florida State, LSU and Kentucky. One ACC program has already emerged as a leader.

“I really like Wake Forest and their style of play,” Watson said. “I’ve been liking them since I was young.”

And the Demon Deacons seem to like him just as much, too.

“My coach says they’ve been calling every week this year which is cool with me,” Watson said.

Watson said he also favors LSU and called them number two in his list. He also said he hopes to see his list grow after the summer time. Watson will suit up for the Atlanta Celtics for the AAU circuit.

The sophomore has excelled this season by leading his team to a 27-4 record, including a win in the first round in the state 2A tournament. The team will hit the hardwood on Thursday night for round two. Watson has averaged 23 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists on the year.

He is an aggressive wing that knows how to best utilize his strengths. Watson said he learned a lot by playing and practicing with Josh Smith and Dwight Howard last summer.

“They told me to keep my head in the game and just try to be smart in what I can do best,” he said.

“I play my game by just getting out on the floor and driving to the hole and seeing what opens up from there. I’ll dunk on you real quick. Five or six guys this season already know that. They were just in the way of me and the basket and I just had to do it to them.”

That kind of aggressiveness has made Watson a must-watch prospect during the AAU circuit.