watson signs at wyoming

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Around The Mtn. West: Wyoming
Signs Watson To NLI--(Nov. 18, 2002)

Here's another press release that we missed picking up this past Friday when it was announced, but better late than never. It sort of speaks for itself. Congratulations to the Cowboys and head coach Steve McClain on signing two SoCal players, both Mikel Watson (6'-1" Sr. PG) from Oceanside, and Jarrod Boswell (7'-0" Sr. F/C) of El Capitan, also in San Diego. Here's the official press release announcing Watson's signing:

Wyoming Basketball Program Announces the Signing of Mikel Watson
Prep star from Oceanside, Calif. averaged 26.5 points, 6.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game as a junior.
Nov. 15, 2002

LARAMIE, Wyo. - University of Wyoming head basketball coach Steve McClain announced on Friday the signing of San Diego-area high school senior Mikel Watson of Oceanside, Calif., to a national letter of intent

Mikel Watson is a 6'1", 168-pound point guard from El Camino High School in Oceanside, Calif. He helped lead his team to a 26-5 record in the 2001-02 season. El Camino won the Avacado League Championship, and advanced to the Southern California CIF Championship game before losing to Carlsbad High School. Watson averaged 26.5 points, 6.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game as a junior.

Watson has started for El Camino since the middle of his freshman season. He averaged 6.0 points and 3.0 assists as a freshman, and improved his averages to 16.0 points and 5.0 assists per game as a sophomore. With 100 more points, Watson will become the leading scorer in El Camino history.

He has contributed to El Camino posting a 62-29 (.681) record during his time in high school. El Camino has advanced to the CIF playoffs in each of the past two seasons, and has been rated as the No. 1 team in San Diego County in preseason rankings for the 2002-03 season.

Watson is ranked as the No. 2 point guard in the West by PrepSportsWest, and is listed among the Top 200 high school seniors in the nation by Athlon Sports. Street & Smith has named Watson an Honorable Mention High School All-American entering his senior season.

His high school coach is Ray Johnson, who has led El Camino to a 470-140 (.770) record in 23 years. El Camino has also won 15 conference championships and appeared in 10 sectional finals during Johnson's time as head coach.

Watson is the son of Dawn and Malcom Watson. Watson plans on majoring in physical education at Wyoming, with hopes of someday becoming a coach. He selected Wyoming over DePaul, UNLV and New Mexico.

"In Mikel Watson, we were able to get an outstanding combo guard," said McClain. "He can play both the point and the two-guard positions. Mikel is a talented player, who can really shoot the basketball. I feel like we definitely attracted one of the best guards in the country in Mikel. He has been part of one of the winningest high-school programs in the San Diego area. We like to bring in players who have been part of winning programs, and Mikel definitely has that background."

Watson joins Jarrod Boswell, a 7'0", 265-pound senior from Lakeside, Calif., as Wyoming's two early signees. Boswell signed with Wyoming on Wednesday, Nov. 13. These are the only two student-athletes that the Wyoming Basketball program plans on signing during the early signing period.