‘He means so much’: LeJuan Watts adds voltage to Eastern Washington off the bench

Following last season, when LeJuan Watts redshirted as a member of the Eastern Washington men’s basketball team, the freshman was faced with the choice of staying or going.

The coach who had recruited him, Arturo Ormond, was leaving his position as an assistant on the EWU staff to join the staff at the University of Portland. And, eventually, six of Watts’ teammates would choose to transfer.

But Watts met with head coach David Riley and asked how he fit into the team’s plans.

“It was really just a role I was waiting for,” Watts said Saturday following Eastern Washington’s 91-83 win over North Dakota State. “What can I do?”

As it turns out, he can do quite a lot.

In his second year in the program, Watts has carved out a key part off the bench for the Eagles (8-7, 2-0 Big Sky), who play Saturday at Idaho (7-8, 1-1) in a men’s and women’s doubleheader in Moscow.

“He’s another guy who has really turned it on and is just playing better basketball every single day,” Riley said Saturday. “He’s doing all these incredible things … and the wild thing is, he doesn’t even know half of what’s going on yet. He’s still a freshman out there.”

Watts is averaging the sixth-most minutes (23) and second-most rebounds (5.9) for an Eagles team that has won seven of its past eight games. In Saturday’s win over NDSU, Watts scored in double figures (13 points) for the seventh time and also led the team in rebounds for the seventh time.

With five teammates averaging at least 10 points a game, Watts isn’t necessarily relied upon to score. But he’s averaging 9.7 points per game and has been efficient: He’s made 66.3% of his shots, best on the team.

“He means so much,” EWU junior forward Casey Jones said of Watts. “He kind of reminds me of me when I was a freshman, doing all the hustle plays, (those) important things that get us wins. (He is) rebounding, and right now he’s been scoring for us, which is huge.”

It is just the sort of role Watts said Riley proposed to him after last season. Watts called it “being a hard-hat guy.”

“Honestly, in our program, everything will come,” Watts said. “If you just do what you’re supposed to do, you’re going to score.”

Built like a tight end – Jones said Watts is probably the best multisport athlete on the team – Watts said he wasn’t interested in playing football. His older brother Walter played football at Utah from 2006 to 2010. Bri Watts, their sister, played basketball at Colorado from 2013 to 2017. Their father, also named Walter, was at times a baseball and football player, too.

But Walter Watts made his name as a college basketball player, at Utah, where he played for Rick Majerus. Walter died in 2016 of an apparent heart attack.

“My dad,” LeJuan Watts said of why he chose basketball. “I just wanted to be like him. Everything he did, I wanted to do.”

Watts has given the Eagles front-court depth that has freed them up to play different combinations at forward. At times the Eagles have played with five forwards at once, as they did late against the Bison, with Jones, Watts, Ethan Price, Dane Erikstrup and Cedric Coward on the floor together.

It’s a luxury for a team that has so many players capable of handling the ball and so many players who have taken on new, more versatile roles during their careers. Jones is a good example of someone who started as a sixth-man hustle and energy player who is now a regular starter and reliable scorer.

Last year, Jones was a “glue guy,” Riley said recently. This year, Jones has taken on a bigger role, making more plays and driving to the basket more often.

Potentially, that’s a role Watts could grow into for the Eagles.

Watts wasn’t the only Eagles player who after last season weighed the possibility of transfer. Six others chose to go elsewhere and have found various parts to play.

The most notable transfer was Steele Venters, who joined Gonzaga but tore his ACL during a November practice and will miss this season.

Deon Stroud, who played off the bench for the Eagles last year, and redshirt Amarion Savage ended up at Division I programs. Stroud has played in 11 games at Texas Southern, averaging 5.1 points and 2.9 rebounds. Savage is at Charleston Southern and has played 54 minutes in seven games.

Imhotep George, who played minimal minutes, and redshirt Sebastian Andersson went to Division II programs. George has started 11 of 13 games at Virginia State and is averaging 11 points per game, third most on the team. Andersson has averaged 12.4 minutes and 2.0 points in 10 games at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont.

Ty Harper, who played in 20 games for the Eagles last year and averaged 2.0 points per game, is thriving at The Master’s University, an NAIA program in Santa Clarita, California. Harper leads the team in scoring at 19.5 points per game and is making 40.2% of his 3-pointers.

When Watts decided to stay, he wasn’t after minutes. He just wanted a part.

He’s found one.

“Last year I think the redshirt was really good for him,” Coward said of his fellow Fresno, California, native. “Even though he didn’t play, he was with (us for) the experiences. … He put in the work, just like I did, just like everybody else on the team.”