Men's Basketball's Watkins Signs With D1 Bellarmine University

Myles Watkins, the Pasadena City College Men's Athlete of the Year for all sports teams in 2023-24, will take his basketball talents to NCAA Division I Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. Lancers men's basketball head coach Ryan Frazer announced Watkins' scholarship signing today after Watkins did so on his social media.

Watkins had a marvelous run in his two seasons as he was a signature player that helped turn the Lancers men's basketball program into a strong ranked team in Southern California after a 1-win season before his arrival in 2022-23. Watkins, from Centennial High in Frisco, Texas, helped the #12 seed PCC reach the SoCal Regional Finals as a freshman when he scored a game-high 18 points in the Round 3 contest, a hard-fought 63-58 loss to #4 seed San Bernardino Valley. 

With Watkins on the floor, PCC finished 22-9 overall record, was rated #8 in team defense, and earned two playoff wins, including an upset victory over #5 San Diego Miramar in the SoCal quarterfinals. 

As a sophomore, he led #15 seed PCC to a 19-11 mark as he scored a game-high 25 points in a 72-65, Round 1 playoff victory over Los Angeles Southwest. He totaled another game best of 21 points in the team's 87-69, regional quarterfinal loss at #2 San Diego City. 

"Myles' journey to get to this point is not foreign to those who understand how community college athletics works," Frazer said. "He was a part of the program for three years, redshirting his first year. He helped make history as a freshman and was a big part in us winning 22 games that season.

"As a sophomore he really stepped up and helped lead us to another successful season. Myles was not only able to accomplish some amazing feats with the team, but individually he will not only be one of the all-time greats at PCC, but one of the all-time greats I have coached in my career. I am very proud of the work he put in, and happy to see him achieve his goal of playing D1 basketball."

A 3.77 GPA student and an All-SCC North Division First Team selection, Watkins finished as PCC's #18 All-Time Leading Scorer with 901 points.

Watkins is the first men's basketball player to be named PCC Men's AOTY since Taj Spencer in the 2013-14 school year.

He will play as a junior in the 2024-25 season under Bellarmine Knights' long-time coach Scott Davenport.