Diante Watkins

Diante Levante Watkins (born 5 July 1990) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Samsunspor of the Turkish Basketball First League.

Diante Watkins
Free Agent
PositionPoint guard
Personal information
Born (1990-07-05) July 5, 1990
Chicago, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Career information
College
NBA draft2012: undrafted
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012–2013Chicago Redline
2013–2015SC Rist Wedel
2015Chicago Blues
2016–2017Nürnberg Falcons
2017–2018SOMB
2018–2019Tours
2019–2020Gemlik Basketbol
2020–2021Mamak Belediyesi
2021–2022Manisa BB
2022Czarni Słupsk
2022–2023A.S. Ramat HaSharon
2023Samsunspor
Career highlights and awards

College career

Watkins, a graduate of Hubbard High School,[1] attended Richard J. Daley College, earning National Junior College Athletic Association All-America Third Team honors in the 2009-10 season. He subsequently enrolled at Robert Morris University Illinois. Watkins was the 2011-12 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Player of the Year and received NAIA All-America First Team distinction twice.[2]

Professional career

In 2012-13, Watkins played for the Chicago Redline in the Independent Basketball Association[2] and then took his game overseas. His first two years in Germany were spent at ProB side SC Rist Wedel. In 2014-15, playing under coach Michael Claxton, Watkins was named ProB Player of the Year. Prior to the 2015-16 campaign, German ProA team Bayer Giants Leverkusen announced that Watkins has signed for the upcoming season.[3] However, due to a knee injury, Watkins was unable to play for the Leverkusen side.[4]

After recovering from the injury, Watkins joined the Chicago Blues of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association (MPBA). He won the 2016 MPBA championship title and was named Playoff Most Valuable Player (MVP).[5] Representing the NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars, Watkins won a four-nations tournament in China in May 2016. Averaging 18.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 3.0 steals in eight games which were held in Yunyang, Dazu and Shenzhen, Watkins received all-tournament MVP honors.[6]

He then headed back to Germany to join ProA outfit Nürnberg Falcons BC.[7] At Nürnberg, Watkins averaged 17.1 points and 4.7 assists per outing.[8]

Watkins continued his career in France, playing one year each for NM1 clubs Boulogne and Tours.[9] He then headed to Turkey in 2019. In the 2019-20 season, he averaged 23.2 points, 7.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds per contest for Gemlik.[10] In 2021-22, he won the Turkish Basketball First League championship with Manisa Büyükşehir Belediyespor. Watkins averaged 18.6 points per game en route to the title.[11]

On July 15, 2022, Watkins put pen to paper on a contract with Czarni Słupsk of the Polish Basketball League (PLK).[12] Watkins averaged 11.1 points and 6.6 assists per contest in PLK play.[13] He parted company with Czarni Słupsk on November 17, 2022, the team management was not satisfied with his performances.[14] On December 2, 2022, Watkins signed with A.S. Ramat HaSharon of the Israeli National League, the second-tier of Israeli basketball.[15] He put up averages of 20,6 points, 7 assists and 4,8 rebounds per game for Ramat HaSharon, on April 24, 2023, Watkins agreed to a deal with Samsunspor of the Turkish Basketball First League.[16] He helped the team win the 2022-23 championship,[17] averaging 16.8 points, 6.1 assists and 5.2 rebounds a contest.[18]

References
  1. "Diante Watkins Player Profile". MidStateHoops.com. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  2. "Diante Watkins, Former Richard J. Daley College Men's Basketball All-American, to Have Number Retired". citycollegesofchicagoathletics.com. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  3. ProB-MVP Diante Watkins wechselt zu den Bayer Giants, Basketball.de, 7 July 2015. Accessed 3 Oct 2016.(in German)
  4. "Drew Brandon ersetzt verletzten Diante Watkins". Bayer Giants Leverkusen. 2015-08-20. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  5. Halbleib, Greg (2016-04-02). "Blues win MPBA title with nail-biter over 66ers". Midwest Professional Basketball Association. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  6. "USA All-Stars Named to Four Nations All-Tournament Teams". NetScouts Basketball. 2016-05-21. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  7. "Start-Up-Unternehmen nimmt Fahrt auf: Lizenz ist da – neuer Spielmacher ebenfalls". 2. Basketball-Bundesliga (in German). Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  8. Eurobasket. "Nuernberg Falcons BC basketball: Season 2016-17". Eurobasket LLC. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  9. "Toutes les saisons du joueur WATKINS Diante Levante". MR STATS (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  10. "Manisa BBSK'ye Hoş Geldin Diante Watkins – Manisa Büyükşehir Belediyespor Kulübü" (in Turkish). Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  11. "En gözde Manisa". Yeniasir. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  12. "Czarni Słupsk mają rozgrywającego. Diante Watkins, pierwszy zagraniczny kontrakt w zespole". Radio Gdańsk (in Polish). 2022-07-15. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  13. "Diante Watkins". Polska Liga Koszykówki S.A. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  14. "Czarni rozwiązali kontrakt z Diante Watkinsem. Dziś mecz z Kingiem Szczecin [posłuchaj magazynu koszykarskiego]". Radio Gdańsk (in Polish). 2022-11-18. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  15. "שחקני מחלקה יקרים שלנו, תתחילו לשנן את השם: דיאנטה ווטקינס!". A.S. Ramat HaSharon / Facebook. 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  16. "Diante Samsunspor Basketbol'da!". Samsun Gazetesi (in Turkish). 2023-04-24. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  17. "Basketbol Süper Ligi'ne Yükselen 2. Takım Belli Oldu". Eurohoops (in Turkish). 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  18. "Samsun BSB Anakent 2022-23". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved 2023-06-26.

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