Leonidas Watson can jump.
This fact has been obvious since his childhood, when he was a standout basketball player growing up in St. Louis, Mo.
How he would use his athletic ability later in life, however, turned out to be anything but obvious.
Watson’s love was always basketball. He could jump so high that he played forward and center during his youth, despite standing less than 6 feet tall.
During his sophomore year at Parkway West High School, Watson wowed his fellow students by putting on a dunk show during a pep assembly. While most high school students never experience the sensation of stuffing a basketball, Watson stole the show with a 360º double-pump jam.
His jaw-dropping hops caught the attention of more than just the Parkway West student body. Dale Shepard, the school’s track and field coach at the time, took notice of Watson’s athletic ability and asked him to join the team during the spring.
While basketball was still Watson’s first love, track and field quickly grew on him as he got his start in the high jump. It didn’t take long before Watson’s athleticism got him involved in several events.
“I was supposed to do the high jump, then I came out and (Shepard) said, ‘Let’s see how you do in the long jump,’” Watson said. “It was OK, I mean, it was decent. After a couple of meets (Shepard) was like, ‘All right, we need points, let’s put you in the triple jump.’”
Track and field continued to play second fiddle to basketball when it came time for Watson to make a decision about where to attend college. He decided to join the basketball team at St. Louis (Mo.) Community College, where he would play his natural position of point guard.
After his freshman year (2000-01), the SLCC basketball program made a coaching change and Watson didn’t figure into the team’s plans. At this point, he had a decision to make: Sit on the bench or give track and field a shot.
Watson chose the latter.
“I was hurt for awhile because I was real cocky about basketball,” Watson said. “(It wasn’t) until my first (track and field) season when I really stopped worrying about basketball.”
Watson committed himself to track at SLCC and started noticing improvements in his jumping as he matched technique with his raw athletic ability. After a year of competition at the junior-college level, Watson realized that the sport which always took a back seat to basketball might be his ticket to a big-time school.
“There were a couple of meets, and after awhile I started improving more and more,” Watson said. “Then I started to hit those marks where I was like, ‘Man, I can actually do this at the Division I level.’”
During the 2003 season, Watson’s hard work paid off when he won junior college national championships in the outdoor (53 feet) and indoor (52-5) triple jump. He also took second nationally in the outdoor (25-1) and indoor (24-9) long jump.
Watson started getting attention from the likes of Nebraska, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana State. But it was a meeting with a certain Pacific-10 Conference school that helped make his decision an easy one.
“Oregon was the last school to recruit me, but they were the first to come to my house,” Watson said. “That really impressed me. (Jumps coach Bill Lawson) came in my house, talked to my mom and didn’t tell me one thing and do another. (He) just straight up told me, ‘This is what we’re going to do for you.’ So far, he’s been right.”
Lawson said that meeting face-to-face with an athlete is the best way to start building a trustworthy relationship.
“If you’re going to ask a young man to come halfway across the country, it’s important to visit him at his home and get a feel for his environment before he comes to your home and enters your environment,” Lawson said. “It’s kind of like a two-way street.”
Watson has plenty of respect for Lawson and is a large supporter of his coaching style. Watson said he enjoys Lawson’s method of coaching because rather than simply barking instructions, the coach asks for feedback and shows trust in athletes.
“(The relationship) isn’t all coach, disciplinary, do it this way,” Watson said. “(Lawson) asks for your feedback, then he tells you what you should do. When you’re with a program you have to believe in your coach and believe in what he does.”
Once Watson arrived in Eugene, the transition from city life in St. Louis to small-town life began. While life in Oregon’s third-largest city has its moments, Watson was hit by a case of culture shock.
“I’m so used to being in a city environment,” Watson said. “Where I’m at now is more country and open. Not being able to go to (a decent) mall or go to the movies or go get my hair cut … I think there’s only one place in town I can get my hair cut. You actually have to schedule a time and I’m used to just walking in there.”
Watson’s transition was made a little easier when he met Oregon teammate Roderick Dotts. The two had several things in common and hit it off instantly. Dotts grew up 10 minutes east of Watson in East St. Louis, Ill. While the pair didn’t know each other growing up, they share the same accent and clothing preferences.
Senior hurdler Brandon Holliday has had to take Watson and Dotts to Portland on several occasions to meet the duo’s shopping needs. Both are admitted shopaholics who love buying shoes and bright, baggy clothing.
Watson and Dotts have helped each other adapt to the other surprises in Eugene, besides the lack of shopping outlets, that come with the transition into a new environment.
“Me and (Watson) bonded real fast,” Dotts said. “We can relate to each other and spend a lot of time together.
“It was weird meeting the hippies. We don’t have that in St. Louis at all.”
In the field, Watson quickly garnered respect at the Division I level. He earned All-American status in the long jump (25-2 1/2) during the indoor season and won his outdoor jumping debut in the long jump (25-4 1/2) during the Jim Click Shootout in Tuscon, Ariz.
He will compete in the long jump and the triple jump in tomorrow’s Pepsi Team Invitational at Hayward Field. It will be his second appearance at Hayward after winning the 100-meter dash (10.88) during spring break’s Oregon Preview.
During his remaining time at Oregon, Watson would like to continue working toward being one of the nation’s best in the long jump and the triple jump along with getting his degree in psychology.
Finding a way to adapt to life in Eugene would also be a plus.
“(Watson and I) go to the parties here but we don’t really feel ’em a lot,” Dotts said. “They’re not really fun. We go mostly to talk about how boring it was. It’s just a different type of atmosphere, but we’re getting used to it.”