Watkins is UK Hoops’ spark off the bench
Senior guard/forward Lydia Watkins defends University of Tennessee Chattanooga’s Shanara Hollinquest at Memorial Coliseum Sunday night. Photo by Scott Hannigan
December 11, 2009
Every team needs a little spark off the bench, whether it comes in the form of shooting, rebounding or defense.
Some players, such as UK women’s basketball senior guard/forward Lydia Watkins, bring all three along with something special that can’t be coached.
“Lydia Watkins came to play,†said UK head coach Matthew Mitchell after UK’s win over Cincinnati on Dec. 4. Watkins sparked a UK comeback by posting a career-high 18 points coming off the bench, a role she relishes.
“For me (my energy) is just something that happens,†Watkins said. “I get excited for every game.â€
Watkins has good reason to get excited each time she steps out on the court. She has had to battle and persevere for a multitude of reasons to play the sport she loves.
As a junior at Christian County High School in Hopkinsville, Watkins averaged a double-double and committed to stay close to home to play for the Cats despite offers from other schools. To an outsider, Watkins’ basketball career seemed to be on an upward trajectory.
However, before the end of her junior year of high school, Watkins was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis, a stress fracture in her vertebrae, which forced her to undergo two back surgeries in six months.
Instead of perfecting her game as a senior, Watkins was forced to watch from the sidelines and cope with eight screws in three of her vertebrae.
Watkins could have easily quit basketball to avoid the lengthy rehabilitation process, but she wasn’t ready to leave the game on those terms, she said.
“I knew I could play, it was just a question of how I would play with screws in my back,†Watkins said. “My freshman year was tough coming in, trying to get back in shape and trying to play with the screws in, it used to hurt.â€
Screws or no screws, Watkins mustered up the ability to appear in 33 of 34 games as a freshman while learning to manage her back pains.
That successful freshman campaign was followed up with a sophomore season that saw Watkins remain in good health, save for a minor knee injury. She didn’t know it, but another extended absence from basketball was looming once more.
Watkins missed the entire conference schedule as a junior because she had a child.
She still came to every practice and talked with her teammates, but just watching the game wasn’t enough. She wanted to play.
“I definitely missed playing in the game being able to help my team out, especially last season, because we struggled a bit because we were very thin as far as players,†Watkins said. “As far as not being able to help my teammates out … that hurt the most.â€
Whether it was the nagging back injury or her pregnancy, Watkins’ setbacks granted her perspective. She lived by a “stay focused, stay positive†motto with the belief that her best playing days were ahead.
This season began with a scare when Watkins suffered a shoulder injury in UK’s lone exhibition game. She then missed the first three games of the season.
Compared to other hardships in Watkins’ career, a sore shoulder wasn’t going to prevent her from fulfilling her goals of reaching the NCAA tournament and winning a conference title.
“It’s the game of basketball, I mean I love it, I’ve been playing it for a long time now,†Watkins said.