Sylvania "Sly" Watkins (born February 18, 1985) 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 currently plays for the

Moncton Miracles The Moncton Miracles were a Canadian professional basketball team in Moncton, New Brunswick. Established in 2011, they were a charter member of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). The Miracles played their home games at the Moncton C ...

of the

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; french: Ligue nationale de basketball du Canada) is a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketb ...

(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 ...

at Okaloosa–Walton Community College and then

Crichton College The name Crichton () originates as the name of * Crichton, Midlothian, Scotland, which is also the site of * Crichton Castle Places and institutions It can also refer to: In Dumfries * Crichton Campus, Dumfries, part of the University of Glasgow ...

. Watkins also competed at the high school level with

South Atlanta High School South Atlanta High School is a public high school located in the southeast corner of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is located on the site of former George High School, and it formed as the result of the merger of George and nearby Fulton High ...

in his hometown,

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. As a professional, he has spent much of his years with the Miracles, seeing success primarily on the defensive end.

High school career

Watkins attended

and played varsity basketball for four years. In his junior year, he led his team to a 27–3 record and earned All-State honorable mention, first-team all-region, and first-team all-city honors. As a senior, Watkins averaged 12.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 4.5 blocks and earned the same honors as he did the previous year. South Atlanta ended the season with a 30–2 mark and a berth at the 4A state championship game.

Collegiate career

As a freshman, Watkins played

at Okaloosa–Walton Community College in

Niceville, Florida Niceville is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States, located near Eglin Air Force Base on Boggy Bayou that opens into Choctawhatchee Bay. The population was 11,684 at the 2000 census. The 2010 census population for Niceville was 12,7 ...

, averaging 8.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. The Raiders finished their season with a 21–9 record, second place in the

Panhandle Conference The Panhandle Conference is a conference within the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 8. The conference consists of four state colleges and one community college located in Florida. Members Member institutions are Chipo ...

, and berths to the state and

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

tournaments. In November 2004, Watkins signed a

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(NLI) to play with the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

program at

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

for the following season. Hilltoppers head coach Darrin Horn praised him for his style of play and expected him to become a significant part of the team's front line. However, Watkins later decided to not enroll at WKU due to personal reasons. Watkins competed with

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

for the 2006–07 season. In his debut, he posted a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds against

Philander Smith College Philander Smith College is a private historically black college in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Philander Smith College is accredited by ...

. On November 21, 2006, he was named

TranSouth Athletic Conference The TranSouth Athletic Conference (TSAC) was a college athletic conference for smaller colleges and universities located in the Southern United States. It was affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compe ...

Player of the Week in men's basketball after leading Crichton to two wins to start off the season. He was averaging 23.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.5 blocks, and 1.5 steals that week. At the end of the season, Watkins led the Comets to an Elite Eight appearance at the NAIA tournament. His team also won the TranSouth tournament and Watkins was named first-team all-conference.

Professional career

In 2009, Watkins took part in the Southeastern Exposure Basketball League (SEBL) for Rome Servpro-1. He later joined the Georgia Gwizzlies of 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, ...

(ABA) for the 2010–11 season. Following his stint with the Gwizzlies, Watkins competed at the Kentuckiana

Pro–Am Pro–am (or pro/am, pro am, ProAm; a contraction of professional–amateur) refers to a sporting event where both professional career athletes and amateurs compete. It could also refer to a collaboration between professionals and amateu ...

summer league with Team Atlanta. In 2011, Watkins returned to the ABA and signed with the Atlanta Experience. However, he left the team in December, when he signed with the

of the newly-created

(NBL).

References

External links

Sylvania Watkins
at

Eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provide coverages of every professional and semi-professional leagues around the world. Although primarily focusing on European basketball, th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Sylvania 1985 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball players from Atlanta Centers (basketball) Moncton Miracles players Northwest Florida State Raiders men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Victory University alumni Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball players