Prospect Spotlight: Elijas Watson (2020)
One of the standouts at last weekend’s Midwest Live! event in Lawrence, Kan., Shawnee Heights 2001 point guard Elijas Watson showed he is a player to watch this spring and summer heading into his junior season.
A quick 5’11 guard who is at his best attacking the basket, Watson put together several strong performances for the Kansas Hoggs 16U as his team competed in the 17U division throughout the tournament.
“i like to be able to control the game and i like to go fast,” Watson said. “I am more of a driver and look to score or dump the ball off. I like to play defense also, I like to pressure up and try to get quick steals.”
A year ago was something of a learning experience for Watson and Shawnee Heights. After graduating numerous seniors from the school’s state championship team the year before, the program promoted several players into new varsity role.
Watson said he learned a lot playing a sixth-man type role as the team improved throughout the season.
“We had a pretty rough season, we were a new team, lacked some team chemistry and lost close games that we could’ve won, but that got better towards the end of the season.”
This summer, Watson is playing with the Kansas Hoggs 16U squad which is also blending together new faces.
“We are also a newer team but we also have meshed together really good and fast through these first two tournaments,” Watson said. “My coach Steve Bonner, has really improved my game a lot since i’ve started playing with him in a lot of different aspects of the game.
“He’s helped me with my shot a lot, he’s helped me with my mental part of the game with getting mad during games, and just all around helped me understand the game a lot better and has gotten me a lot more exposure.”
This offseason Watson says he is focused on getting stronger and improving his outside shot.
“I feel like if I can become more of a dead eye shooter I can be much more of a threat than my drive,” he says.