San Diego State lands coveted San Franciso transfer Devin Watson
He’s from the San Diego area. He visited San Diego State last week. The Oceanside restaurant where he made his announcement was decorated with red and black balloons.
All signs pointed to high-scoring San Francisco transfer Devin Watson selecting San Diego State on Sunday evening, and sure enough that’s exactly what happened. The 6-foot-1 point guard unzipped a black warmup jacket to reveal an Aztecs basketball shirt underneath, a decision that inspired shouts and applause from the few dozen friends and family family members in attendance.
Watson elected to return home and play for San Diego State despite interest from the likes of Cal, UNLV and Kansas among other programs. He will sit out next season but will have two years of eligibility remaining thereafter.
The offer from San Diego State required patience from Watson. He initially committed to Oregon State during high school only to change his mind when the Beavers landed Gary Payton II out of junior college. By the time Watson was back on the market, San Diego State had already landed a point guard in the 2014 class and no longer had interest in him.
Watson instead went to San Francisco, where he broke into the starting lineup midway through his freshman season and then blossomed into an all-league standout this past season. He averaged 20.3 points and 4.9 assists as a sophomore for a Dons team that went 15-15 and finished in fifth place in the WCC.
When San Francisco fired head coach Rex Walters, Watson chose to explore his options on the transfer market. This time San Diego State was interested from the start.
The addition of Watson should give San Diego State the option of playing two point guards together during the 2017-18 season. By that time starting point guard Jeremy Hemsley would also be a junior, however, he is big enough to guard opposing shooting guards. Throw in all-conference guard Trey Kell, who would be a senior on that team, and that could be one of the most potent backcourts Steve Fisher has coached at San Diego State since the days of Jamaal Franklin, Chase Tapley and Xavier Thames.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
