Zac Watson signs with UC-Riverside

First year UC-Riverside head coach Dave Patrick hit the ground running as he landed one of the top forward prospects available this spring in 6-foot-6 forward Zac Watson. The versatile and tough-nosed senior signed his letter of intent to played for the Big West program on Wednesday evening, this coming on the heels of New Zealand national team center, Callum McRae, signing a day earlier.

Watson discussed his decision to attend Riverside. “Coach (Dave) Patrick is a really good guy and someone I have a great relationship with,” he said. “The Big West Conference is also very competitive and Riverside’s academics are well respected.”

A 6-foot-6 forward that was originally slated to attend Dartmouth in the fall, Watson is a quality long-term addition pick-up for the Highlanders. More of an under-the-radar prospect from the loaded state of Texas, Watson originally heard overtures from a plethora of power conference programs in the fall before deciding on the academic route for college.

Opening back up his recruitment earlier in the year, Watson comes more in your small ball power forward variety, someone that can rebound within the bigger bodies in the lane, but also score facing the basket. Playing with a league in the Big West, Watson has the opportunity to step in immediately and leave a large fingerprint at Riverside.

The second signing of the Dave Patrick era at UC-Riverside, Watson joins Callum McRae, a product out of New Zealand, a country that has been kind to Patrick in the past. The god-father of Ben Simmons, Patrick has recruited the area successful during previous stops at St. Mary’s, LSU and TCU, as McRae could become another overseas prospect to make a name for himself within the college game.