Take 22 Podcast with Anton Watson (episode 4): Sleeping through GameDay, overpowering Saint Mary’s and chatting with ‘The Rev’

From staff reports

Anton Watson’s “Take 22” podcast officially revved up on Tuesday night.

Watson welcomed Gonzaga assistant coach Roger Powell – known as “The Rev” – on the fourth episode of his podcast, “Take 22,” now streaming at www.spokesman.com.

Powell talks about his upbringing in Chicago, his national championship appearance as an Illinois player in 2005 and his professional career in the NBA and overseas. Powell reflects on his four years at Gonzaga under head coach Mark Few and discusses Anton’s growth since joining the program in 2019-20.

Powell, on working one-on-one with Anton: “It’s a lot of fun. Anton and I are very similar, we played very similar positions … Now here he is healthy, and he’s becoming the Anton everyone believed he could be. For me to still be able to get out on the court with him and do things like that in practice – you know, dive on the floor, bring energy – it’s fun. And I think the guys enjoy it when I do it. So anything that can help them have some excitement and see their coach sweating with them, I think it helps.”

And how’s he feeling after each workout? “I’m 40 now. Four years ago, I wasn’t as sore. Each year I can definitely tell, like I get little more sore. It’s kind of all over.”

Powell, on being called “The Rev”: “It’s not just my nickname. In college, I actually got a ministry license, and I was planning on being a pastor, but I decided to play professional basketball and use basketball as an opportunity to share my faith.”

Earlier in the episode, Watson talks about Senior Night and where he stands as far as returning next season for a fifth year or turning pro.

Among the other highlights:

On ESPN GameDay: “I watched it later. I wasn’t waking up for that. A lot of my friends went, our managers went and they told me about it, and I heard it was exciting. The energy looked crazy in there. I wish I could have watched it, but I had to get my sleep before the game.”

On beating Saint Mary’s: “We know what they’re capable of and we knew that they were going to make a run after the first half. I think the press was kind of messing with them a little bit, but they figured it out in the second half and started scoring a little bit more. But we did a good job of keeping our feet under us and playing our game.”

On his poster dunk over the Gaels’ Mitchell Saxen: “I just knew when I caught it that I had to dunk it. That’s the only thing that was going through my mind. I was like, ‘I’m either going to get blocked or I’m going to dunk on him.’ And I got there a little bit faster than him.”

On the WCC Tournament and who Gonzaga might face on Monday: “It’s really up for grabs. … Everyone in the WCC is really good.”

Catch the entire third episode at www.spokesman.com/podcasts/take-22/.

It’s also available on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Google podcasts.