|
 Now
in his second decade with the Detroit Titans and the
"dean" of Horizon League coaches, Perry Watson has
made winning basketball a campus rite at the
University of Detroit Mercy.
Watson has enjoyed 10 winning seasons in his 11
campaigns at UDM and is already the second-winningest
coach in Titan history, having joined legendary Bob
Calihan last season as Detroit's lone coaches with
more than 200 career victories. He has his choice of
three championship rings to wear each day, symbolic
of conference titles claimed by his team in 1994,
'98 and '99. On three other occasions, Watson has
guided Detroit to the league championship game. He's
taken two teams - in 1998 and '99 - to the NCAA
Tournament. His 2001 Titans won their way to the
semi-finals of the NIT, and UDM was invited back to
that post-season tourney one year later.
Clearly, in his 11 seasons at the Titans' helm,
coach Watson has more than reached his initial goal
of building the Titans into an annual contender in
the Horizon League. Gains have been steady and,
during the last seven seasons, Watson's Titans have
earned themselves a share of national recognition by
compiling a sparkling 150-72 record (.676). Their
four consecutive 20-win seasons between 1998 and
2001 is a school record, and they've had at least 18
victories in each of the last seven campaigns. That
stretch began in '98, when Watson guided Detroit to
the MCC (as the Horizon League was known then)
regular season co-championship, the school's first
ever.
From there, the Titans received their first bid to
the NCAA Tournament in 19 years, defeated St. John's
in the first round and finished with a 25-6 record,
matching the school record for victories. The Titans
weren't through there, however. In 1999, they
matched that 25-6 record, followed up with an
outright regular-season championship and their first
conference tournament title in five years and again
won their first-round NCAA Tournament game, this
time defeating UCLA. Those results earned Watson
Mideast Coach of the Year recognition from
Basketball Times.
In 2000, they went 20-12 - just the second time in
school history where the Titans managed to roll up
three consecutive 20-win seasons - and advanced to
the conference championship game before finally
falling. Their 25-12 record in 2001 included a 10-4,
second-place finish in conference play, another
berth in the league championship game, and
post-season victories over Bradley, UConn and Dayton
that resulted in a trip to Madison Square Garden for
the NIT's final four. They returned to the NIT in
2002 after crafting an 18-13 record, and finished
19-11 last season.
The Titans have been a dominating 72-32 in
conference play (.692) over the last seven seasons.
In 2003, Watson passed Barry Collier (93 victories
at Butler between 1989 and 2000) for the most
coaching victories in MCC/Horizon League history.
All told, Watson, selected the MCC Coach of the Year
in 1998, has produced 10 winning campaigns and a
213-124 record in his 11 seasons at the Titan helm.
He has coached nine different All-League players in
his tenure, as well as three conference Players of
the Year (Willie Green, Jermaine Jackson and Rashad
Phillips, the latter a two-time winner) and two
Newcomers of the Year (Derrick Hayes and Phillips).
Green was a rookie with the Philadelphia 76ers in
2004 while a second of Watson's former players,
guard Desmond Ferguson, played in the NBA for
Portland late in the season before being selected by
the new Charlotte Bobcats in the expansion draft.
No other coach has ever led the Titans into either
first or second place in the league standings, nor
did any of Watson's predecessors ever coach Detroit
to even two straight opening-round victories in
conference tournament play. Watson broke into the
college head coaching ranks with a bang, taking his
first team, the 1994 Titans, to the school's
first-ever MCC Championship. They returned to the
league finals in 1996, remarkably, the 13th time in
14 years that Watson played a major role in taking a
team to a championship game.
"When you look back at something like that, it's a
real nice accomplishment," coach Watson said. "When
I was a young coach at the high school level, I
wondered if I would get to a 100. I got to 300
(actually 302 at Detroit Southwestern) and then
there's this, so this is 500 for me. It's done now,
so I can try to continue to go onward and upward.
"I look at the fine coaches on the list with me and
what they did for the University, and to get to
their elite company is a good feeling."
Coach Watson came to the Titans on June 10, 1993
after two years as the top assistant at the
University of Michigan, which played in the NCAA
Championship Game during both of those seasons.
Before that, Watson had built a nationally-renowned
program as head coach at Detroit Southwestern High
School, and his last nine teams all played for the
State Class A Championship. The 19th head coach in
Titan annals, Watson has a strong background as a
teacher, an educator and, indeed, a winner.
When he took over the Titans, Watson liked both the
challenge, as well as the potential of bringing back
the glory to the only Division I program in the
City.
"I was here in the city for the glory years of U of
D basketball, and I think they can be relived,"
Watson said. "I've been a winner all of my life, and
I'd be less than honest if I didn't feel we'd be
competing for championships."
Watson joined the University of Michigan's staff in
June of 1991 and was a part of U-M's consecutive
appearances in the NCAA Championship Game.
Previously, he had served 13 years as head coach at
Detroit Southwestern, where he became the winningest
coach in the history of the Detroit Public School
League. Watson logged an incredible record at
Southwestern, guiding 10 teams to the Class A Final
Four and winning consecutive State championships in
1990 and '91. Southwestern was ranked No. 1 in the
nation by USA Today in 1991, while Watson was
honored as national Coach of the Year. In 1994,
Watson was a member of the first induction class
into the Detroit PSL Coaches Hall of Fame. Nine
years later, the gymnasium at Detroit Southwestern
was named in his honor.
Southwestern's dominance of state high school
basketball was evidenced by the 302-34 record it
compiled in Watson's 13 seasons at the helm. His two
state champions combined for a sparkling 55-1 record
alone. In addition to the two titles, the
Prospectors also posted seven finishes as Class A
runners-up. Under Watson, Southwestern won nine City
titles, including five straight at one point, and
became the first school ever to win the Public
School League, City and State Championships the same
season. Watson coached numerous all-star players at
Southwestern, including 1993 Titan senior Mike
Lovelace and 1999 UDM co-captain Bacari Alexander,
who's now a Titan assistant coach, as well as
current NBA players Jalen Rose (Toronto), Howard
Eisley (Phoenix) and Voshon Lenard (Denver). Watson
was inducted into the Basketball Coaches Association
of Michigan Hall of Fame in October, 2002.
A fine prep player in his own right, Watson was an
All-City and All-State basketball player at
Southwestern in the late Sixties. He attended Henry
Ford Community College and played basketball before
graduating and transferring to Eastern Michigan.
Watson earned his B.S. degree in Health and Physical
Education in 1972. He earned his M.A. in Guidance
and Counseling from EMU in 1976.
A native Detroiter, Watson and his wife, Deborah,
have one daughter, Paris. |
