Despite the end result, the name Rocket Watts will always be remembered fondly by Michigan State fans. He came in as a highly-touted prospect who was teammates with LaMelo Ball but fizzled out after a disappointing sophomore season that sent him to the transfer portal.
Although he didn’t exactly have the Spartan career he had hoped for, he still finds himself in position to extend his professional basketball career.
According to his Instagram, Watts signed with KK Radnicki Gorazde of the Slovak Basketball League after spending last season in the same league with BK Iskra Svit where he averaged 12.5 points and shot nearly 43 percent from the floor and about 38 percent from three.
Watts will now spend his second straight season in the Slovak Basketball League after a decent “rookie” season with BK Iskra Svit.
Michigan State fans are still rooting for this dude.
The Rocket Watts era was a roller-coaster
At one point, Watts was considered the future of Michigan State basketball. He was the crown jewel of the Spartans’ 2019 recruiting class which also included Malik Hall and Julius Marble.
Unfortunately, only one of those guys finished their career in East Lansing, and it wasn’t Watts.
Rocket started 16 games as a true freshman alongside Cassius Winston, averaging 9.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists. His shooting percentage was a lot lower than Tom Izzo would have liked, but he had plenty of room to improve. His ceiling was sky-high. In a COVID-affected sophomore season, he started 15 games and averaged 7.7 points and 2.7 assists, but his shooting worsened.
- Freshman: 38.9% FG, 28.1% 3FG, 80% FT
- Sophomore: 33.6% FG, 25.3% 3FG, 78% FT
The dip in numbers was concerning and there was doubt not only creeping in, but making itself at home in East Lansing regarding Watts being the future of the program. He was far too inconsistent through two years, but maybe he was a late-bloomer?
Well, we didn’t get to wait and see as Watts wasted no time entering the transfer portal following the 2020-21 season, heading to the other MSU (Mississippi State). He went from being the future of Michigan State, as dubbed by Cassius, and averaging over 20 minutes per game as a true freshman for a Final Four contender to a struggling sophomore who entered the transfer portal after the season. It was a roller-coaster of events in just two years.
After one quiet year at Mississippi State where he was limited to just 19 games and one start, Watts ended his career at Oakland under Greg Kampe. He scored 506 points in two seasons but he finished his fifth year with a career-best 40.9% shooting percentage.
Watts is one of the biggest “what could have been” players in the Izzo era just because of all the fanfare that followed him in his senior year of high school into his freshman year in East Lansing.
We all wish it would have worked out with MSU, but it’s nice to see him having success overseas.
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