24  Mikel Watson
	Class: Freshman Hometown: Oceanside, Calif. High School: El Camino Height / Weight: 6-2 / 175 Position: Guard

2003-04 (Freshman): Mikel Watson is a 6'2", 175-pound guard from El Camino High School in Oceanside, Calif. He is expected to make an immediate contribution to the Cowboy Basketball program, either at the point guard or shooting guard position. His natural position is point guard, but he has the offensive skills and outside shooting ability to play both guard positions.

"In Mikel Watson, we were able to get an outstanding combo guard," said McClain. "He can play both the point and the two-guard positions. Mikel is a talented player, who can really shoot the basketball. I feel like we definitely attracted one of the best guards in the country in Mikel. He has been part of one of the winningest high-school programs in the San Diego-area. We like to bring in players who have been part of winning programs, and Mikel definitely has that background."

High School/Personal: As a senior, Watson led El Camino High to a 31-3 record. El Camino was ranked as high as No. 5 in California Division I in 2003 and won the CIF San Diego Section Championship. They also won the Avocado League with a perfect 10-0 record, and advanced to the CIF Division I Southern California Regional Playoffs before losing to Los Angeles Fairfax High, 61-62. Division I is the largest classification in the state of California.

Watson was named the CIF-San Diego Section Division I Player of the Year as a senior, was a First Team All-Section honoree and was named the Avocado League Player of the Year. He attended the 2002 Nike All-America Camp in Indianapolis, Ind. Watson was ranked as the No. 2 point guard in the West by PrepSportsWest. He was selected to the 2002 Street & Smith's Boys All-America Team, and was listed among the Top 200 senior players in the country in 2002 by Athlon Magazine.

He averaged 22.4 points per game and handed out 10.0 assists per game as a senior. At one point in the season, El Camino won 26 consecutive games. He scored 20 or more points 14 times during his senior campaign.

Watson concluded his high school career as his school's career scoring and assist leader. He also set school records for single-season points and three-pointers.

He helped lead his team to a 26-5 record in the 2001-02 season. El Camino won the Avocado League Championship, and advanced to the Southern California CIF Championship game before losing to Carlsbad High School. Watson averaged 24.1 points, 6.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game as a junior.

Watson started for El Camino since the middle of his freshman season. He averaged 6.0 points and 3.0 assists as a freshman, and improved his averages to 16.0 points and 5.0 assists per game as a sophomore.

He contributed to El Camino posting a 62-29 (.681) record during his time in high school. El Camino advanced to the CIF playoffs in each of the past three seasons, and was rated as the No. 1 team in San Diego County in preseason rankings for the 2002-03 season.

His high school coach was Ray Johnson. Johnson has led El Camino to a 501-143 (.778) record in 24 seasons. El Camino has also won 16 conference championships and appeared in 11 sectional finals during Johnson's time as head coach.

Born Jan. 9, 1985, Watson is the son of Dawn and Malcolm Watson. He selected Wyoming over Boise State, Long Beach State, Nevada, Pepperdine, San Francisco, Stanford and USC. Watson has not yet decided on a college major.