CAREER PHOTO GALLERY
A two-time All-American, including the first ever First Team honoree, Herb Watkins closed out his career with 1,998 points and is also second in program history in field goals made (846), blocks (191) and steals (217). Additionally, he ranks among the top-10 in school history in field goal percentage (.536) and rebounds (832).
The second all-time leading scorer in New Haven history, Watkins played among some of the best in program history and is now the fourth player among his four-year career to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining Gary Battle, Ken Coleman and Bill Jeffress.
Watkins was a proven outside shooter before the three-point line was introduced in the game. According to his coach, Stu Grove, Herb had a “devastating 20-foot shot”.
The Passaic, N.J. native came highly touted out of Passaic County Tech where he averaged more than 25 points and eight rebounds while earning countless honors. Among the high school accolades for Watkins was First Team All-County, First Team All-League and First Team All-Area.
Watkins made a splash the minute he stepped on the hardwood, finishing his freshman year fourth on the team averaging 8.1 points and third in rebounding, hauling in 4.2 per game. His biggest highlight from his rookie campaign came in a rivalry battle against Quinnipiac where he scored 18 points in a home victory.
Just one year later, Watkins nearly doubled his output, leading the team in scoring (15.8 ppg) and rebounding (8.1 rpg) as he helped the Chargers to a 10-2 record in the NECC and a second-straight appearance in the conference semifinals. ”Superb Herb”, as he came to be known following his sophomore campaign, Watkins was the team’s top rebounder in 11 games and was the top scorer nine times. In addition to leading the team in point production, he was also the Chargers leading shot blocker with 48.
The 1986-87 season was the first of back-to-back years where Watkins led the Chargers to the NCAA Division II Championship, again finishing as the leading scorer, upping his output to 20.5 points, while pulling down 7.9 rebounds. During his junior campaign, Watkins became the 16th member of the 1,000 point club, doing so in a home win over American International on January 10, 1987. He quickly ascended that all-time scoring list, closing out his junior season among the top-10.
Watkins also increased his defensive performance as a junior, finishing with a career-high and team-leading 73 blocks, which remains second most in a single season in program history, while picking off 63 steals, second most on the team. Overall, he led the team in scoring 18 times and rebounding 14 times, while scoring a season-high 33 points against Philadelphia Textile. He capped off his junior season with a plethora of accolades highlighted by his first of two National Association of Basketball Coaches All-America honors. Additionally, Watkins was named First Team All-City, First Team All-NECC, First Team All-New England, First Team All-East Region, First Team ECAC North and was named to the all-tournament team following the program’s first ever NCAA Regional appearance.
His senior season was one for the record books as he helped lead the Chargers to a 26-5 record, the most wins in over 20 seasons, and a national ranking as high as sixth in NCAA Division II. That same season, the Blue and Gold qualified for the NCAA Division II Championship for the second-straight year, while closing out the regular season with an 11-1 record in the NECC.
Watkins, who led the team in scoring for the third straight season (22.7 ppg) became the program’s first ever First Team All-American when he was honored with All-American status for the second-straight season by the NABC. Additionally, he was named the New England Player of the Year as he added an average of 8.8 rebounds and hauled in a team-best 78 steals and blocked 66 shots to his team-leading scoring average.
