Despite loss, Watson ends UCLA career as a hero
By Daily Bruin Staff
March 4, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 CHRIS BACKLEY/Daily Bruin Senior Earl
Watson leaves with his parents at the end of his final
home game at UCLA.
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Staff
With less than a minute left in the game, and it was clear that
the Bruins would lose, a chant began in the UCLA student
section.
“Earl Watson” “Earl Watson.”
Slowly, the chant picked up momentum. A few moments later all of
the spectators that remained in Pauley Pavilion, at the end of No.
12 UCLA’s 85-79 loss to No. 1 Stanford, were chanting the
senior team captain’s name.
It was a moving tribute to a player who has been the heart and
soul of the Bruin team the last four seasons and was about to step
off of Pauley floor for the last time.
“It was very touching,” said Watson, who scored 19
points and had five assists in his final home game. “It shows
me that a lot of people notice the hard work that I have put into
this game and this team.
“I was surprised how a lot of people stayed around at the
end,” he added.
“We have a lot of support going into the (NCAA) tournament
and hopefully we can do something special.”
After the game, teammates were angered that they let Watson end
his Bruin home career with a defeat.
“I feel bad about the loss but I feel worse for
Earl,” forward Matt Barnes said. “Earl has worked here
for four years as hard as he can. He’s given his life to this
program.
“We wanted to win this game for him,” he added.
“We let it slip out of our hands. That’s really
disappointing.”
Teammate Ray Young said he felt bad not only for Watson but also
for guards Ryan Bailey and Jason Flowers who also departed Pauley
Pavilion with a loss.
“Those guys have been here for so long and worked so hard
you kind of want them to end their careers on a positive
note,” Young said. “But we still have some games to
play. We’ve got the tournament and we know we’ll be a
high seed.”
Before the game, Watson said he tried to block out all the
emotions that naturally come from Senior Day and focus on beating
Stanford ““ a victory that would have placed his team in sole
possession of first place in the Pac-10.
“To me winning the Pac-10 championship was more important
than Senior Day,” he said. “It still hasn’t hit
me this was my last home game. So hopefully it won’t hit me
too soon.”
Watson, who has started every game of his UCLA career, became
the Bruins’ all-time leader in steals on Saturday. With three
steals against Stanford he brought his total to 226, surpassing
Bruin great Tyus Edney (1992-95) who had 224 over his career.
In a weird turn of events, Watson ended up playing the last five
minutes of his Pauley career in a different jersey.
After taking an elbow to the chin that caused him to bleed on
his usual No. 25, the point guard wore the unused No. 13 the rest
of the game.
Watson didn’t realize his mistake until after the
contest.
“Oh man, why did I do that?” he said.
“I’ll never do that again. Maybe that’s why we
couldn’t come back.”
No. 25 or No. 13, there’s no doubt the player who wore
those jerseys has drastically changed from his first days in
Westwood to Senior Day.
He entered UCLA a shy kid who had disdain for the media, often
giving one-word answers. Watson has transformed into an outgoing
person, even becoming the team’s spokesman in his senior
year.
“I’m very different,” he said. “In every
aspect of life and every aspect of being a basketball player. My
whole outlook on life has changed. It’s been a great
experience and hopefully it continues to get better."
According to Watson, the fan support has gotten a lot better. He
said he was amazed at how much enthusiasm for Bruin basketball has
improved in recent games.
UCLA had sellouts or near-sellouts in three of its last four
home games and had a number of students start camping outside
Pauley Pavilion on Tuesday for Saturday’s big Stanford
game.
He said he was disappointed in the fan support his first two
years in Westwood. Watson, who lives twenty minutes from Kansas
University, grew up watching fans camp out for Kansas’s
exhibition games.
“It disappointed me my freshman year when I ran out there
for exhibition games and it was half way full,” Watson said.
“I thought (UCLA) is greater than Kansas. It’s more
precious, there’s a lot more tradition.
“Hopefully this whole environment is changing.”
Out of the four UCLA teams he has been on, he said the current
Bruin team is the most special to him.
“This is the team that’s going to stick in my mind
forever just because it’s my last year, what we’ve had
to overcome and the way we’ve improved,” Watson
said.
The relationship he has with UCLA Head Coach Steve Lavin and
players like Billy Knight and Barnes is going to make it tough for
him to leave.
The Bruins have two more regular season games at the Washington
schools before they head into NCAA tournament play.
“It’s going to be very hard for me (to
leave),” he said. “UCLA is a great place and an easy
place to get really, really close to.”
