Irvine Valley men's basketball coach Jerry Hernandez announced earlier this week that sophomore swingman Kashif Watson has signed with the University of Idaho.
Watson, a 6-4, 190-pound guard/forward, averaged 13.3
points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and shot 52.3-percent from the floor
for IVC this past season.
He played in all 32
games and helped the team to a program-record 27 wins (27-5) and the Southern
California Regional finals.
"Kashif is a great athlete that can do a lot of things on the floor," Hernandez said. "He can break down a defense and get to the rim. Kashif is a terrific transition player. He can also be a game changer on defense.
"He sure helped us have a lot of success this year."
Watson played his freshman season at Indian
Hills (Iowa) Community College where he averaged 10.5 points, 3.5
rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game for a team which was one
of the top-ranked junior colleges in the nation that season. He earned
honorable mention all-conference honors.
Watson originally is from Las Vegas where he
starred at Bishop Gorman High. He was named all-league as a
senior and averaged 23 points, six rebounds and four assists per game.
He was a Street & Smith's magazine honorable mention All-American
and was rated the No. 2 shooting guard on the West Coast by one
recruiting service.
New Idaho coach Don Verlin, a former long-time Utah State assistant, is happy to have Watson on board.
“Kashif is a multi-dimensional player who will
impact our program immediately,” Verlin said. “He is a very good
basketball player who has been very well coached and has played for
great programs.
"He will help us the most with his ability to be a
lockdown defender who can also score in the open court. He is a quality
young man and we spent a lot of time recruiting him. I am glad we hung
in there because it paid off.”
Idaho finished with a record of 8-21 overall last season and was 5-11 in the Western Athletic Conference.