Mitchell Watt (basketball)

Mitchell Watt (born December 14, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Reyer Venezia of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the University at Buffalo, where he was an All-American and Mid-American Conference (MAC) player of the year.

Mitchell Watt
No. 50 – Reyer Venezia Mestre
PositionPower forward / Center
LeagueLBA
Personal information
Born (1989-12-14) December 14, 1989
NationalityAmerican
Listed height2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)
Listed weight106 kg (234 lb)
Career information
High schoolDesert Edge (Goodyear, Arizona)
CollegeBuffalo (2008–2012)
NBA draft2012 / Undrafted
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012–2013Hapoel Gilboa Galil
2013–2014Ironi Nes Ziona
2014Santa Cruz Warriors
2014–2015Ironi Nes Ziona
2015–2016Alba Berlin
2016Ironi Nes Ziona
2016–2017Juvecaserta
2017Al Ahli Dubai
2017–presentReyer Venezia
Career highlights and awards
  • Lega Basket Serie A First Team (2020)
  • Lega Basket Serie A All-Defensive First Team (2020)
  • Italian Cup champion (2020)
  • Italian League champion (2019)
  • Italian League Second Team (2019)
  • FIBA Europe Cup champion (2018)
  • German Cup champion (2016)
  • Balkan League champion (2013)
  • Balkan League Import Player of the Year (2013)
  • All-Balkan League First Team (2013)
  • MAC Player of the Year (2012)
  • First-team All-MAC (2012)
  • AP Honorable Mention All-American (2012)
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

College career

Watt, a 6'10" forward-center from Desert Edge High School in Goodyear, Arizona, came to Buffalo to play for coach Reggie Witherspoon. After cracking the starting lineup as a freshman in 2008–09, Watt established himself as one of the top defensive players in the MAC, earning the nickname sWatt. As a sophomore, Watt battled Guillain–Barré syndrome, which limited his effectiveness.[1] His role was largely as a rebounder and defensive stopper his first three years. As a junior, he averaged 8.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per game.

As a senior, Watt continued his strong defensive play, but also nearly doubled his scoring output. He averaged 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.2 blocks per game. He led the Bulls to a 12-4 MAC record and was named conference player of the year[1] and an AP honorable mention All-American.[2] For his career, Watt scored 1,061 points (8.3 per game), 565 rebounds (4.4 per game) and 195 blocks (1.5 per game). At the end of his career, Watt was invited to play in the Reese's College All-Star Game at the 2012 Final Four.

Professional career

2012–13 season

In April 2012, Watt participated in the pre-NBA Draft Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, where he set the tournament record for blocked shots with 13.[3]

After going undrafted in the 2012 NBA draft, Watt joined the Memphis Grizzlies for the 2012 NBA Summer League.[4] On August 2, 2012, he signed a one-year deal with Hapoel Gilboa Galil of the Israeli Basketball Super League.[5]

2013–14 season

In July 2013, Watt joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2013 NBA Summer League. On August 18, 2013, he signed a one-year deal with Ironi Nes Ziona.[6]

2014–15 season

In July 2014, Watt joined the Golden State Warriors for the 2014 NBA Summer League. On September 2, 2014, he signed with the Warriors.[7] However, he was later waived by the Warriors on October 24, 2014.[8] On November 3, 2014, he was acquired by the Santa Cruz Warriors as an affiliate player.[9] On December 22, 2014, he left Santa Cruz and signed with his former team Ironi Nes Ziona of Israel for the rest of the season.[10]

2015–16 season

On July 6, 2015, Watt was announced as a member of the Toronto Raptors roster for the 2015 NBA Summer League.[11] On August 16, he signed with Alba Berlin of the Basketball Bundesliga.[12] He parted ways with Berlin in March 2016.[13]

2016–17 season

In August 2016, Watt signed with JuveCaserta of the top Italian league, Serie A.[14] Averaged 14.9 points, 9.0 rebounds was named team MVP.

2017–18 season

In August 2017 signed a 2 year deal with Reyer Venezia. On 2 May 2018, Watt won the FIBA Europe Cup with Reyer Venezia.[15] Averaged 11.5 points, 4.5 Rebounds. Finished 3rd place in Italian League.

2018-19 season

In June 2019 won the Italian league championship with Reyer Venezia. Finalist for Italian league MVP. Averaged 15.3 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game, Lead the league with 70.1 FG% named all Italian league second team. Has played in 126 straight games with Reyer Venezia. 2 Time round league MVP including a 27 point 9 rebound vs Avellino.

2019-20 season

Won 2020 final eight Italian Cup with Reyer Venezia. Selected First Team all Final Eight Cup.Eurocup regular season round 6 MVP v Partizan NIS With 27 points 11/12 FG 37 value. Reyer made quarterfinals of Eurocup but was suspended indefinitely due to covid-19. He averaged 12.9 points per game and 5.1 rpg With a value of 14.6 and named euro basket all eurocup honorable mention. In Italian Lega Basket he averaged 14.5 points per game 7.4 rebounds per game with 18.4 value. He was named Lega Basket Serie A First Team All Defensive Center and Lega Basket Serie A First Team center.

2020–21 season

On June 22, 2020, Watt signed a multi-year contract extension with Reyer Venezia.[16]

References
  1. "Mitchell Watt Named Mid-American Conference Player of the Year". Buffalo.edu. March 6, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  2. "Mitchell Watt Earns AP All-America Honorable Mention Honors". ubbulls.com. March 26, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  3. "UB's Watt Finishes Strong at Portsmouth Invitational". WGRZ.com. April 14, 2012. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  4. "Bulls Watt to attend NBA Summer League with Memphis". WKBW.com. June 29, 2012. Archived from the original on July 3, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  5. "Gilboa/Galil tabs rookie Mitchell Watt". Sportando.com. August 2, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  6. "Ironi Nes Ziona announced Tyler Honeycutt and Mitchell Watt". Sportando.com. August 18, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
  7. "Warriors Sign Aaron Craft, James Michael Mcadoo & Mitchell Watt to Contracts". NBA.com. September 2, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  8. "Warriors Waive Craft, Kapono, Kilpatrick, Mcadoo and Watt". NBA.com. October 24, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  9. "Santa Cruz Warriors Announce 2014 Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. November 3, 2014. Archived from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  10. "Mitchell Watt returns to Ironi Nes-Ziona". Sportando.com. December 22, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  11. "Raptors Announce NBA Summer League Roster". NBA.com. July 6, 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  12. "Alba Berlin announces Mitchell Watt". Sportando.com. August 16, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  13. "Vertrag mit Mitchell Watt einvernehmlich aufgelöst". Alba Berlin. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  14. "JuveCaserta lands Mitchell Watt, ex Ironi Nes-Ziona". Eurobasket.com. August 12, 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  15. Reyer Venezia conquer FIBA Europe Cup after defeating Sidigas Avellino
  16. "Reyer Venezia signs Mitchell Watt to contract extension". Sportando. June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
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