By Mickey Donovan Posted December 12, 2012
Off the court, Josh Watterson is one of the most nicest guys you could ever meet but, when put on a basketball court with five other guys trying to defeat him, he is a lean, mean, 6 foot 8 inch, fast, trey-dropping machine.
Basketball has been in Watterson’s life for a very long time. He started playing basketball around the age of four shooting on his little toy basketball hoop.
Two people really influenced his decision to play basketball.
When Watterson was a child he used to go watch his brother, Brian who is about ten years older, play at Lowry. He watched him shoot deep three-pointers and it got him hooked on basketball.
In his high school career, Brian played quarterback for Lowry.
Although Josh used to play football he gave it up to focus on basketball.
“I don’t play football so I can focus on basketball and so I don’t get injured for basketball”, said Josh.
Watterson also looked up to his grandfather.
“My grandpa always taught us to never quit no matter how down you are. Just keep going as hard as you can. Which is how I play now. You don’t just give up. Keep playing as hard as you did when you were tied or ahead. If you’re up by a lot just slow down and keep going,” said Watterson.
Other than his brother and grandfather, Watterson said two professional players have influenced his game. Watterson always liked Allen Iverson when he was younger.
“I liked the way he played and the way he handled the ball,” added Watterson.
Now he likes the play of Kevin Durant. He likes his tall and lanky style.
Watterson has many goals for this year in basketball. He wants to, “Win state again and be First Team All-State.”
Watterson admits that winning state is not going to be as easy as it was last year.
“We added Clark and a couple of other teams that were 4A last year,” he said.
The teams are definitely not going to be easy to beat.
“I think Elko will be mostly the same. They lost two of their starters, but they play a lot of their subs. I think we will have the size advantage this year, they lost one of their biggest and most athletic guys,” said Watterson.
Watterson’s biggest accomplishment of his sports career is winning the state championship last year.
Watterson wants to play Division 1 basketball after high school. Watterson’s dream school to play for is BYU. However, he simply wants to play at the next level and will play wherever he has the opportunity.
“My whole family are big fans of BYU and all of my uncles went there,” he said. You can probably say it is almost a tradition for the Watterson family.
