After being honored during senior night festivities Saturday, Anton Watson's career came full circle when he passed fellow Spokane native and NBA Hall-of-Fame point guard John Stockton on the Gonzaga men's basketball all-time scoring list against the Santa Clara Broncos.
The fifth-year senior entered the game needing just two points to move into 26th place on the program's scoring list, which he achieved with a putback layup on Gonzaga's first offensive possession of the night.
Watson won't likely beat Stockton for the all-time steals record of 262, though he's ninth in rebounds (the only player in program history to be in the top 10 for both categories) and is nearing the top 10 for rebounds. The 6-foot-8 forward has played the third-most games (143) and entered the Santa Clara game tied with Corey Kispert and Silas Melson for the third-most wins in a Gonzaga uniform with 126.
Stockton, who coached Watson at the AAU level for a time, shed light on Watson's career arc on an episode of Talking Zags.
"I’m proud of him. I’m glad he’s enjoyed this experience and I think he very much has staying home," Stockton said. "He’s maintained being a quality young man. When things get rough and the game gets close, he’s always been able to turn it up a notch."
Along with doing all the little things and hustle plays, Watson has kicked his scoring output up a notch in his final season with 14.8 points on 60.3% shooting from the floor entering Saturday, also a career-best. He's had two 32-point games this season against UCLA and Santa Clara, both away from home, and has five 20-point games total this season. Prior to 2023-24, he had one 20-point game in his previous 116 games.
Watson played his 64th and final game in The Kennel on Saturday, which came faster than he expected.
"I feel like the season flew by super fast and I didn't even realize next Saturday is the last home game," Watson said after the Bulldogs' 102-76 win over Pacific on Saturday. "So, yeah, I'll definitely prepare for that, but we still gotta win the game. So I'll be locked in."
More must-reads: