http://indiana.scout.com/a.z?s=170&p=2&c...48237.html

Quote:Watford Gets Hoosiers' Attention, Offer

Christian Watford By John Decker

Posted Apr 21, 2008


Indiana is in hot pursuit of Scout.com's sixth-ranked small forward in the 2009 class, Christian Watford.

Bloomington – Tom Crean and Kelvin Sampson have something in common because they both like Birmingham, Ala., small forward Christian Watford.


Watford’s father, Ernest, said Crean’s staff had targeted his son when they were in the Big East.

“I’d say within a week we had phone calls from them,” Watford said.

Those numbers and skills haven’t gone unnoticed. Watford said his son has been offered by IU, Alabama, Auburn, UAB, Memphis, Ole Miss, Louisville, Tennessee, Missouri and Florida.

Tough recruiting competition, Indiana assistant coach Bennie Seltzer has developed a relationship with the elder Watford would could make the Hoosiers a factor. Seltzer is a native of Birmingham and led Marquette’s efforts with Watford.

“(Seltzer) has been my contact guy, I’ve known him a while, and I trust him with what they’ve done at Marquette,” Watford said. “I believe they’re going to bring that same energy to Indiana.

“He and I have had discussions about Christian for the last couple of years, and early on we established a relationship just through him visiting Birmingham. During the time we can talk, we speak often about Christian and how he thinks he has an opportunity to be a really good college basketball player.”

One of the things that makes Watford a top recruit is the fact that he’s someone who can play a couple of different positions on the floor, a trait that Crean covets.

“Coaches like his upside and his versatility, being able to go inside and out,” Watford said. “Defensively he’s long and rangy with a big wing span. Coaches see versatility between the 3 and 4 for him. They see a lot of match-up problems with a four trying to guard him because he has the ball handling skills that he can take the four, and if he’s matched up against a 3 he can take them down and post them up.”

While Seltzer is one of the biggest factors helping the Hoosiers with Watford, that’s not the only thing working in their favor. Watford said he and his son have been familiar with the IU program for some time, and there’s plenty of things about it that are appealing.

“We followed Indiana basketball for a little while when Mike Davis was there, and also when Coach (Bob) Knight was there as far as their tradition,” Watford said. “We like the tradition of Indiana basketball. We’ve heard from several who have visited there and they told us about the excitement and the energy the crowd has for their team.”

That could be important, since Watford said his son would like to play at a school where basketball is reins supreme.

“(IU’s crowd) is a big thing because Christian would like to try to go to a predominantly basketball tradition school if he can,” Watford said.

“I know we want to take one to Indiana for sure,” Watford said.

here is a blurb on him from the Real Deal performance, as well as one on Karron Johnson. If it's a numbers game, who do you take...

Sometimes, you really don't have to dominate the ball to justify your lofty reputation. Friday night's outing from Christian Watford was indicative of that. Playing for a deep and athletic M33M squad, the 6-8 BF/WF from Irondale (AL) Shades Valley put on an impressive display. First of all, he's filled out his frame a bit making him much more of a force around the hoop. Second, he possesses face up skill, and when combined with improved handling becomes a tough guard for bigger players. Particularly impressive was a hard right drive from the wing in transition that he finished by shifting his body in mid air, absorbing a foul and finishing with a lefty finger roll. Playing at full tilt and as a member of a team instead of an individual, he's a guy who style-wise is somewhere between 2008's Chris Singleton and Marcus Morris.

Finally, we want to show a little love to Richmond native Karron Johnson, who teamed with Lance Stephenson to make a physically mature and talented one-two punch. Prepping at Durham (NC) Mt. Zion, the 6-7 BF got limited touches but played like an absolute man on the glass. He impressed in a big way with a fast and powerful spin move through traffic, along with a violent tip jam off of a teammate's missed free throw.

k2tigers Wrote:he's a guy who style-wise is somewhere between 2008's Chris Singleton and Marcus Morris.

Interesting that he's compared to former Memphis commit Marcus Morris.

k2tigers Wrote:Finally, we want to show a little love to Richmond native Karron Johnson, who teamed with Lance Stephenson to make a physically mature and talented one-two punch. Prepping at Durham (NC) Mt. Zion, the 6-7 BF got limited touches but played like an absolute man on the glass. He impressed in a big way with a fast and powerful spin move through traffic, along with a violent tip jam off of a teammate's missed free throw.

Interesting to see Johnson paired up with Stephenson. The more time they spend together, I'm thinking, the more likely it is we'll see both of them in Tiger blue. Johnson's a top-10 talent and he's already said he wants to come to Memphis to team up with Taggart, one of his hometown buds.

He would be a great 3-4 year guy for us. We need these guys too.

:iagree:

There is an article posted today on Prepstars site where he was recently interviewed. Watford claims to be wide open at the moment, but then goes on to list Memphis, Indiana, Alabama and Missouri as his primary schools of interest.

RandyW_Class83 Wrote:There is an article posted today on Prepstars site where he was recently interviewed. Watford claims to be wide open at the moment, but then goes on to list Memphis, Indiana, Alabama and Missouri as his primary schools of interest.

and in that exact order. I guess Louisville went from being in his top three to not anymore. The article basically says he's got big time game as an inside/outside dual threat.

k2tigers Wrote:

RandyW_Class83 Wrote:There is an article posted today on Prepstars site where he was recently interviewed. Watford claims to be wide open at the moment, but then goes on to list Memphis, Indiana, Alabama and Missouri as his primary schools of interest.

and in that exact order. I guess Louisville went from being in his top three to not anymore. The article basically says he's got big time game as an inside/outside dual threat.

You are still confident he'll be a Tiger, right?

TigerPat Wrote:

k2tigers Wrote:

RandyW_Class83 Wrote:There is an article posted today on Prepstars site where he was recently interviewed. Watford claims to be wide open at the moment, but then goes on to list Memphis, Indiana, Alabama and Missouri as his primary schools of interest.

and in that exact order. I guess Louisville went from being in his top three to not anymore. The article basically says he's got big time game as an inside/outside dual threat.

You are still confident he'll be a Tiger, right?

Too early to tell. After July it should begin to quickly iron out. It's becoming a numbers game. When you throw in Rashanti Harris, Karron Johnson, Christain Watford, John Wall, Xavier Henry, Lance Stephenson, Nolan Dennis, etc. for what's likely to be 5 scholarships next year, it's a challenge, but certainly a good one to have.

Indiana recently held a private workout with Watford down here at his high school.

I didn't think private workouts were OK with the NCAA.

Using Rivals rankings, could you imagine getting #2 Henry, #4 Stephenson, #6 Johnson & #9 Wall in '09? Not to mention that the 2009 class is considered stronger than the 2008.

SpiderMan79x Wrote:Using Rivals rankings, could you imagine getting #2 Henry, #4 Stephenson, #6 Johnson & #9 Wall in '09? Not to mention that the 2009 class is considered stronger than the 2008.

I could live with that.........