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Melvin Watkins
Melvin Lenzo Watkins (born November 15, 1954) is an American former college basketball coach and former player.
Born in Reidsville, North Carolina, Melvin Watkins attended Reidsville High School. Watkins started for the Reidsville High basketball team for from 1970 to 1973. As a senior, he was named team captain and, after helping the team earn the state championship, was named a 1973 high school All-American.
Watkins played college basketball at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he was the point guard and team captain of the Charlotte 49ers' 1977 Final Four team. While at Charlotte, Watkins made a point to complete his education, earning a B.A. in Economics in 1977.
Watkins was drafted in the fourth round of the 1977 NBA draft by the Buffalo Braves, but never played in the NBA.
In 1978, Watkins became an assistant coach for Charlotte's head coach Mike Pratt, and would continue as an assistant with Charlotte through eighteen seasons and three coaches: Pratt, Hal Wissel, and Jeff Mullins. When Mullins retired in 1996, Watkins was promoted and became the seventh head coach in school history and the first Charlotte alumnus to hold the position.
In his first season as head coach Watkins was named the Conference USA Ray Meyer Coach of the Year. He compiled an overall 42–20 record in his two seasons as head coach, bringing the 49ers to the NCAA tournament twice, reaching the second round each year.
At the end of the 1998 season, Watkins accepted an offer to become the head coach at Texas A&M University, a school which had enjoyed only one winning season in the previous eight years. During the next six years, Watkins failed to live up to the success he enjoyed at Charlotte, achieving an unimpressive 60–112 record.
In one of the team's more controversial games of Watkins's A&M career, A&M beat Texas Tech 88–86 by sinking a basket at the buzzer. At the time, game officials were not permitted to review plays using instant replay. The game was declared over, although Texas Tech administrators continued to plead with officials to return to the court and review the play. Watkins shepherded his team out of the locker room and onto the team bus without allowing them time to change, citing security concerns. Watkins conducted the post-game news conference with a cell phone from the team bus. The NCAA soon changed its rules to allow game officials to use instant replay for reviews. The lead official was later suspended, not for missing the call, but for failing to follow procedure for returning to the court after declaring the game was over.
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Melvin Watkins
Melvin Lenzo Watkins (born November 15, 1954) is an American former college basketball coach and former player.
Born in Reidsville, North Carolina, Melvin Watkins attended Reidsville High School. Watkins started for the Reidsville High basketball team for from 1970 to 1973. As a senior, he was named team captain and, after helping the team earn the state championship, was named a 1973 high school All-American.
Watkins played college basketball at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he was the point guard and team captain of the Charlotte 49ers' 1977 Final Four team. While at Charlotte, Watkins made a point to complete his education, earning a B.A. in Economics in 1977.
Watkins was drafted in the fourth round of the 1977 NBA draft by the Buffalo Braves, but never played in the NBA.
In 1978, Watkins became an assistant coach for Charlotte's head coach Mike Pratt, and would continue as an assistant with Charlotte through eighteen seasons and three coaches: Pratt, Hal Wissel, and Jeff Mullins. When Mullins retired in 1996, Watkins was promoted and became the seventh head coach in school history and the first Charlotte alumnus to hold the position.
In his first season as head coach Watkins was named the Conference USA Ray Meyer Coach of the Year. He compiled an overall 42–20 record in his two seasons as head coach, bringing the 49ers to the NCAA tournament twice, reaching the second round each year.
At the end of the 1998 season, Watkins accepted an offer to become the head coach at Texas A&M University, a school which had enjoyed only one winning season in the previous eight years. During the next six years, Watkins failed to live up to the success he enjoyed at Charlotte, achieving an unimpressive 60–112 record.
In one of the team's more controversial games of Watkins's A&M career, A&M beat Texas Tech 88–86 by sinking a basket at the buzzer. At the time, game officials were not permitted to review plays using instant replay. The game was declared over, although Texas Tech administrators continued to plead with officials to return to the court and review the play. Watkins shepherded his team out of the locker room and onto the team bus without allowing them time to change, citing security concerns. Watkins conducted the post-game news conference with a cell phone from the team bus. The NCAA soon changed its rules to allow game officials to use instant replay for reviews. The lead official was later suspended, not for missing the call, but for failing to follow procedure for returning to the court after declaring the game was over.