Rocket Watts

Mark "Rocket" Watts Jr. (born June 1, 2000) is an American college basketball player for the Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten Conference.

Rocket Watts
Watts in January 2020
No. 2 – Michigan State Spartans
PositionPoint guard / Shooting guard
LeagueBig Ten Conference
Personal information
Born (2000-06-01) June 1, 2000
Detroit, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school
  • Allen Academy
    (Detroit, Michigan)
  • Old Redford Academy
    (Detroit, Michigan)
  • SPIRE Academy
    (Geneva, Ohio)
CollegeMichigan State (2019–present)
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
FIBA Americas U18 Championship
2018 Canada National team

High school career

Watts spent his first year of high school with Allen Academy in Detroit, Michigan. As a freshman, he averaged 14.1 points and led his team to a 19–3 record.[1] After Allen Academy closed,[2] Watts transferred to Old Redford Academy in Detroit for his next two years. While at the school, he also played with The Family Detroit on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit.[3] In his sophomore season, Watts averaged 25.6 points, 6.2 assists, and 2.8 steals per game and earned Detroit News second-team All-Area honors.[1][4]

As a junior, Watts averaged 26.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 3.1 steals per game, helping Old Redford Academy to a 19–6 record.[1] He was a Detroit News first-team All-Area pick.[5] Watts was named first-team All-State in each of his first three seasons.[1] For his senior season, Watts transferred to SPIRE Institute and Academy, a boarding prep school in Geneva, Ohio.[6] On January 26, 2019, he scored a career-high 64 points, with 15 three-pointers, in a win over St. Edward High School.[7] Watts, on April 29, played in the Jordan Brand Classic all-star game.[8]

Recruiting

By the end of his high school career, Watts was a consensus four-star recruit and top-40 player in the 2019 class.[9][10][11] On September 22, 2018, he verbally committed to play college basketball for Michigan State.[12][13] Watts had been recruited by Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo since eighth grade.[14]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Rocket Watts
PG / SG		 Detroit, MI SPIRE Academy (OH) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sep 22, 2018 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 89
Overall recruiting rankings:   Rivals: 38  247Sports: 39  ESPN: 33
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Michigan State 2019 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  • "2019 Michigan State Spartans Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  • "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 31, 2020.

    College career
    Watts in February 2020

    Watts started his first career game on November 5, 2019, in place of the injured Joshua Langford against the Kentucky Wildcats. He was held scoreless, going 0–4 from the field while picking up 2 assists in 22 minutes played in the 62–69 loss. Five days later, against Binghamton, Watts collected his first career points, finishing with 5 in 23 minutes as the Spartans demolished Binghamton 100–46. On November 18, 2019, Watts recorded a then career-high 11 points to go with another career-high 7 total rebounds as the Spartans routed Charleston Southern 94–46. Watts suffered a leg injury in December 2019 and was forced to miss some time. At the time, he was averaging 6.5 points per game.[15] On February 11, 2020, Watts scored a season-high 21 points in a 70–69 win against Illinois.[16] He tied that mark of 21 points the next game, leading the team in scoring on February 25, 2020 as the Spartans won against the (then) higher ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, 78–70.[17] Watts played a crucial role in the Spartan's game against Penn State on March 3, as they came back from a 15 point deficit at half to win by 8. He put up 18 points, second on the team that night.[18] On March 8, Watts finished second on the team with 19 points in a 80–69 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes.[19] At the close of the regular season, Watts was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.[20]


    2020-2021 Season

    Watts tipped off his sophomore campaign by coming off the bench for 23 minutes, recording two points and three assists for Michigan State in a 83-67 win against Eastern Michigan. In his next game, an 80-70 win against Notre Dame, Rocket scored 13 points in his 20 minutes off the bench, good enough for second on the team that night. In addition, he tied his career high of 6 assists. In the Spartans 75-69 upset of Duke, Watts received his first start of the season. He responded by leading the team in scoring with 20 points, including 3 crucial late free throws to help stave off a Duke comeback. The next game, a 83-76 Spartan victory over Detroit Mercy, Watts once again received the start and led the team with a career high 23 points. He followed that up with 10 points and 6 assists in his third start on the season, a 79-61 win over Western Michigan. In the next game against Oakland, Watts ran into foul trouble early and wound up with 9 points in 22 minutes as the Spartans won 109-91 to improve to 6-0 on the season. In the Spartans first loss of the year, a 79-65 loss to Northwestern, Watts was ice cold, only scoring 5 points, all of which were in the final 4 minutes. Watts continued to struggle against Wisconsin, only scoring 5 points in 26 minutes as the Spartans dropped to 0-2 in conference, losing 85-76. He did set a new career high with 7 assists, however. In the next game, an 81-56 loss against Minnesota, Watts only scored 2 points.

    On December 31, 2020, Spartans coach Tom Izzo stated that Watts would be moving back to his ‘natural’ position at shooting guard instead of point guard.

    In MSU’s first conference win of the year, an 84-77 triumph over Nebraska, Watts scored 9 points coming off the bench, with two late free throws helping finish off the Cornhuskers.

    National team career

    Watts played for the United States under-18 basketball team at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship. He helped his team win the gold medal, averaging 6.8 points and 2.5 assists per game.[21][22]

    Career statistics
    Legend
      GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
     FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
     RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
     BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

    College
    Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
    2019–20 Michigan State 271622.3.389.281.8002.31.7.5.09.0

    Personal life

    Watts was given the nickname "Rocket" while playing football at age five. His father Mark Sr. originally owned the nickname for the speed he displayed while playing high school football.[23]

    References
    1. "Mark Watts Jr". USA Basketball. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
    2. Force, Andrew (April 30, 2017). "Rocket Watts: The Takeoff". PrepHoops. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
    3. Goricki, David (June 25, 2018). "'Rocket' Watts, Beverly to take time in recruiting process". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
    4. Goricki, David (April 7, 2017). "Detroit News All-Area boys basketball teams". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
    5. Goricki, David (April 3, 2018). "Detroit News All-Area boys basketball teams". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
    6. Farrell, Perry A. (September 11, 2018). "Michigan top recruit Rocket Watts leaving Detroit for Ohio prep school". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
    7. Goul, Matt (January 26, 2019). "McDonald's All-American snub fuels Rocket Watts to career-high 64 points at St. Edward". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
    8. Purcell, Jared (April 21, 2019). "Rocket Watts, Romeo Weems, Rickea Jackson leave Michigan mark in Jordan Brand Classic". MLive. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
    9. "Rocket Watts, SPIRE Academy, Combo Guard". 247Sports.com. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
    10. "Rocket Watts Jr". ESPN. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
    11. "Mark "Rocket" Watts, 2019 Shooting guard". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
    12. Borzello, Jeff (September 22, 2018). "Rocket Watts, No. 6 PG recruit in 2019, commits to Michigan State". ESPN. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
    13. Austin, Kyle (November 23, 2018). "Malik Hall signs with Michigan State, no word from Rocket Watts". MLive.com. Advance Local Media. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
    14. Solari, Chris (June 28, 2019). "Rocket Watts: Monday will be 'a great day' as Michigan State basketball freshman arrives". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
    15. "Michigan State's Rocket Watts (stress reaction) to miss Sunday's game". ESPN. Associated Press. December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
    16. "Dosunmu injured on Spartans' buzzer dunk; No. 22 Illini fall". ESPN. Associated Press. February 11, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
    17. "Winston-led, No. 24 Michigan State beats No. 18 Iowa 78-70". ESPN. Associated Press. February 25, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
    18. "Tillman leads No. 16 Spartans to comeback win". ESPN. Associated Press. March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
    19. "No. 16 Mich St tops No. 19 Ohio St 80-69, shares B10 title". ESPN. Associated Press. March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
    20. "Big Ten Unveils Men's Basketball Postseason Honors on BTN" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
    21. "Mark Watts (USA)'s profile". FIBA. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
    22. Greer, Jeff (July 15, 2018). "Louisville basketball makes top eight for 2019 recruit Rocket Watts". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
    23. Jordan, Jason (May 27, 2018). "Rocket Watts says don't box him in to one label". USA Today High School Sports. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
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