Jameel Sharif Watkins (born August 2, 1977) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who last played for the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. Team history The Wellington Saints were founded in 1981. In 1 ...

of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NBL). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C. Georgetown's athletics department fields 23 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the National C ...

during the late 1990s, earning a reputation for his defensive proficiency and shot-blocking skills. His professional career has taken all around the world, playing with over 20 different teams. In addition, between 2000 and 2007, Watkins had four

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

training camp/preseason stints, but never played in a regular season game for any of them.

High school and college career

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Watkins led Paul Robeson High School to an NYC championship and was earned honorable mention All-America honors by ''USA Today''. After redshirting the 1995–96 season, Watkins played in all but three games for Georgetown as a freshman in 1996–97, averaging 2.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in nine minutes per game. As a sophomore in 1997–98, Watkins stepped up when fellow big men

Jahidi White Jahidi White (born February 19, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the NBA. Basketball career Jahidi White attended high school at Cardinal Ritter College Prep. While at Ritter, White teamed with future Du ...

and

Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje Ruben Bertrand Boumtje-Boumtje (born May 20, 1978) is a Cameroonian professional basketball executive and former player who last served as the assistant general manager of the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. He played college basketball ...

were sidelined with injuries, recording a 16-rebound game against West Virginia. In 31 games, he averaged 4.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. As a junior in 1998–99, Watkins started all 31 games and was the fifth-leading scorer on the team with a career-high 7.8 points per game. He also averaged a career-high 7.2 rebounds. As a senior in 1999–2000, Watkins played in every game, averaging 12.3 minutes per game. He was the third-leading shot-blocker on team with 1.1 per game. He also averaged 4.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. He made a strong impression at the

Portsmouth Invitational Tournament The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, (PIT), is the oldest amateur basketball tournament in the United States and the only postseason camp restricted to college basketball seniors. The Portsmouth Invitational is the first of two NBA pre-Draft ( ...

following his senior season at Georgetown, averaging 12.3 points and 9.0 rebounds to help his team win the championship. Had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the championship game and was named to the PIT All-Tournament team.

Professional career

Early years (2000–2007)

In his first professional season, the 2000–01 campaign, Watkins played in both the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

and the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

for the

Fort Wayne Fury The Fort Wayne Fury was a professional basketball team in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1991 through the cessation of the CBA on February 8, 2001. History The team played at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne ...

and the

Los Angeles Stars LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...

. In April 2001, he signed a short-term deal with Spanish club

Cáceres CB Cáceres Club Baloncesto also known as Cáceres CB was a basketball club based in Cáceres, Spain. It was founded in 1961. History Cáceres CB club participated in 11 ACB League (from 1992 to 2003) and in two editions of the LEB (2003–04 an ...

to replace the injured Tim Perry. Watkins spent the first half of the 2001–02 season in Italy with

Basket Livorno Pallacanestro Don Bosco Livorno, founded in 1996, is a professional Italian basketball club from the town of Livorno, Tuscany, playing in the Serie C (third division) as of June 2015. Formerly a youth section of Basket Livorno, Don Bosco has gone ...

. He left the club in January 2002 and finished the season with the

Fayetteville Patriots The Fayetteville Patriots were an NBA Development League team based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States. Its logo design features a bald eagle's head and a basketball in the middle of a capital letter "P" with stars and stripes filling ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. Following the 2001–02 D-League season, Watkins had a five-game stint in Puerto Rico for Maratonistas de Coamo. For the 2002–03 season, Watkins returned to the Fayetteville Patriots. He later had a stint with Chinese team Shanshi YuJing in mid-2003. In January 2004, Watkins signed with the

Beijing Ducks The Beijing Shougang Ducks (''simplified Chinese'': 北京首钢鸭俱乐部篮球队), also known as Beijing Shougang or Beijing Ducks, are a professional basketball team based in Beijing, China, which plays in the North Division of the Chi ...

for the rest of the 2003–04 CBA season. In April of that year, he moved to the Philippines where he played for the

Shell Turbo Chargers The Shell Turbo Chargers were a Philippine Basketball Association team from 1985 to 2005. It won four PBA championships, two from 1998 to 1999. Shell sold its franchise to PBL team Welcoat Dragons, Welcoat Paints in February 2006. Aside from bei ...

during the

2004 PBA Fiesta Conference The 2004 PBA Fiesta Conference, or known as the 2004 Gran Matador Brandy-PBA Fiesta Conference for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship reasons, was tournament held by the Philippine Basketball Association and the first ever edition of the PBA Fiesta ...

. In 10 games for the Chargers, he averaged 27.3 points, 18.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.8 blocks per game. Between 2004 and 2007, Watkins played in the

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League (KBL; ) is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular season. H ...

for

Wonju Dongbu Promy The Wonju DB Promy is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League (KBL), located in the city of Wonju. From its founding in 1996, the team has always been based in its home province of Gangwon. It has the rare distinction of be ...

. During this time, he also had off-season stints with

Kuwait SC Kuwait Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الكويت الرياضي) is a Kuwaiti professional association football, football club based in Kuwait City. The football team has won Kuwaiti Premier League 17 times. Kuwait SC also has over 50 trophies ...

(2005) and

Kansas Cagerz The Kansas Cagerz was a United States Basketball League team in Salina, Kansas. They were founded in 1998 as the Columbus Cagerz in Columbus, Ohio before moving after their inaugural season. The last head coach was Francis Flax. The Kansas Cagerz ...

(2006).

Later years (2007–present)

During the 2007–08 season, Watkins played in China for Fujian XunXin and in the Philippines for the Magnolia Beverage Masters. Between 2008 and 2010, he played for the

Jiangsu Dragons Jiangsu Dragons Kentier (), also known as Jiangsu Dragons or Jiangsu Kentier, are a Chinese professional basketball team in the Southern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association, based in Nanjing, Jiangsu. History In the 2004–05 seaso ...

, while he also had a mid-2009 stint in Puerto Rico for Cangrejeros de Santurce. Between 2010 and 2011, Watkins played in Colombia, Lebanon, China, Jordan, and the Dominican Republic. This was followed by more time in Asia between 2011 and 2015, playing in China, Korea and Japan, while also having stints in Venezuela and Lebanon. On March 27, 2016, Watkins signed a two-week contract with the

. On April 7, he parted ways with the Saints. He appeared in three games for the Saints, averaging 7.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, and had a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds on March 31 against the

Southland Sharks The Southland Sharks are a New Zealand basketball team based in Invercargill. The Sharks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Stadium Southland. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the SBS Bank So ...

References

External links