Gonzaga Bulldogs senior forward Anton Watson hopes he'll be ready to fight off some emotions on Saturday when he plays his final game at The Kennel with Santa Clara in town.
"I feel like the season flew by super fast and I didn't even realize [Saturday] is the last home game," Watson said "So, yeah, I'll definitely prepare for that, but we still gotta win the game. So I'll be locked in."
Technically it's Watson's second time being a part of senior night festivities, though this one he assured would be his last one. Last season, he along with Drew Timme, Rasir Bolton and Malachi Smith were honored in Gonzaga's last home game, a 104-65 win over independent Chicago State. That was the last one in The Kennel for Timme, Bolton and Smith, as well as Julian Strawther after he declared for the NBA Draft late that spring.
This time around, Watson will have the spotlight to himself as Gonzaga's lone senior. Quite fitting considering the Spokane native has embraced an expanded role in the offense this season while blending his toughness, versatility and overall winning mantra he's carried himself with as an unselfish teammate willing to do whatever it takes to win.
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“He’s been such an unsung hero of this program. He’s such a winner," said Mark Few after Gonzaga's 86-65 win at Portland. "He’s a winner and he’s a great teammate. He’s just the perfect guy you want in your program. Obviously when you're at Gonzaga you really want him in your program because we’ve valued everything Anton’s done.
Sometimes it isn't just about the small plays that add up; Watson has shown he can willthe Bulldogs to victory as the go-to guy on offense. Against UCLA, Watson had 32 of his team's 69 points, shot 14-of-15 from the field while his teammates were a combined 9-of-38 and had half of the team's six 3-pointers. Most of his buckets weren't from offensive putbacks or cuts either; he attacked the Bruins in many isolation sets from the perimeter and on the low block possession after possession, a common theme for Watson this season (he's posted a career-high 20.5% usage rate).
Watson nearly dragged the Bulldogs to victory against Santa Clara with another 32-point outing, though it wasn't enough to overcome a woeful first half as a collective group.
"They don’t win that [UCLA] game without him having those 32," said Dan Dickau on Gonzaga Nation. "They wouldn’t have been in [the Santa Clara game] if he didn’t play all 40 minutes and score all 32 of those points."
Even in games where Watson didn't light up the box score all night, he took it upon himself to lead the team to victory when it mattered most down the stretch. At Kentucky, he had an and-one to put the Bulldogs up three with 3:28 to play, followed by a drive baseline and score to make it a two-possession game with less than a minute remaining. Those scores came after a clutch 3-pointer from the wing earlier in the half that really halted the Wildcats' growing momentum after a 12-0 scoring run made it a tight ballgame in crunch time.
"When things get rough and the game gets close, he’s always been able to turn it up a notch," said Gonzaga basketball legend John Stockton about Watson's game.
Stockton saw Watson's potential during his Gonzaga Prep days, as the NBA Hall-of-Fame point guard was Watson's AAU coach before Watson's first season at Gonzaga. There aren't many similarities between the Spokane natives, though both have a serious knack for the ball defensively as the top two players in all-time steals in program history, with Stockton sitting at No. 1, and both have scored just over 1,300 points in their respective collegiate careers.
In fact, Watson has an ample opportunity to surpass his former coach on Gonzaga's all-time scoring list Saturday, as the 6-foot-8 forward needs two points on senior night to move into 26th-place all-time. Watson doesn't have much of a chance of catching Stockton's steals record (he needs 57 more steals to do that) though there's no denying Watson's versatility has made for one unique career in the record books; he's the only player in program history to be in the top 10 for all-time rebounds and steals.
"He’s maintained being a quality young man," Stockton said. "I’m proud of him. I’m glad he’s enjoyed this experience and I think he very much has staying home."
Watson's future career in basketball is unknown once he takes off the Gonzaga uniform for the last time later this season, though a chance at the NBA isn't entirely out of the question. His name doesn't come up often in mock draft discussions and he hasn't quite shown his entire toolkit on offense consistently in his career. What he has shown is a dynamic skillset and a winner's mentality, two traits that typically bode well at the professional level.
"He’s going to get a legitimate shot at the next level in the NBA just because he can do all the little things," Dickau said. "There’s some things he’s going to have to improve upon and I’m sure he knows that after having gone through some of the [NBA Draft combine] process last year. But NBA teams have shown they value winners and they value versatility and he provides both of those things.”
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