Watford commits to LSU
Mountain Brook High School basketball standout Trendon Watford has made his college choice.
He’s going to be a Tiger.
On Monday afternoon, Watford announced that he will continue his career at LSU under head coach Will Wade. He chose the program over Alabama, Indiana and Memphis.
"It was a tough decision," Watford said. "It was one of the toughest decisions of my life."
Watford's selection ended months of speculation about his college destination.
The 6-foot-9, five-star forward narrowed his list of schools down to four in December but hadn’t indicated if there was a clear front-runner. Duke also briefly entered the picture in late February but quickly faded from contention.
Watford said he settled on LSU about a week ago.
"The biggest part was the relationships and the trust," Watford said, "the trust I had in the coaches and Coach Will."
Watford made his announcement in the MBHS fine arts center. He wore a navy blazer with ripped jeans and was accompanied on center stage by his parents, Ernest and Belinda, and siblings, Christian and Elise.
Christian Watford starred at Shades Valley High School before playing collegiately at Indiana. Trendon Watford held back tears as he spoke about his brother's influence.
"Without you, I wouldn't be in this position," he said.
Trendon Watford also praised his coaches, including McMillan, whom he has known for much of his life. Together, they won three consecutive Class 7A state titles from 2017-19. Mountain Brook became the first school to three-peat in the state's highest classification.
Notably, the Spartans finished the 2019 season ranked No. 5 in the nation by USA Today.
“Trendon's done a great job of having individual accolades, but he's done things with his team that hadn't been done by a lot of players who have been in these positions as a five-star player," McMillan said. "That's something you can't overlook. Not only did he do great things for himself, he did great things for his team and for his school."
Watford will have a new coach next year in LSU’s Wade. Wade led the Tigers to the Southeastern Conference regular-season title in March but was suspended by the university before the start of the SEC tournament for allegedly violating NCAA recruiting rules.
Wade was reinstated as LSU's head coach in April, and his newest signee expressed confidence that he'll remain in Baton Rouge.
"When he got reinstated, he was still talking to me throughout the whole time," Watford said. "His athletic director was behind him."
Watford leaves behind quite a legacy at Mountain Brook. He became the school's first McDonald's All-American and was twice named Mr. Basketball by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
The only other two-time Mr.Basketball winners in state history are John Carroll’s Ronald Steele (2003-04), Butler’s Trevor Lacey (2010-11) and John Petty (2016-17), who won the award at J.O. Johnson and Mae Jemison.
Watford also is a two-time recipient of the state's Gatorade Player of the Year award.
"He has an 'it' factor to him," McMillan said. "That's why wherever he goes, he'll always be able to rise to the occasion, always be able to do great things."
Watford averaged 23.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.5 blocks and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 64 percent from the field as a Spartans senior. He shined under the brightest lights.
Watford scored 22 points and corralled 11 rebounds in this year's 7A championship game and was named state tournament MVP for the third time. He finished his high school career with 3,783 points and 1,909 rebounds, which set a new state record.
Watford said he will report to LSU in early June to begin writing his next chapter.
"I just can't wait to start playing college basketball," he said. "I'm looking forward to taking that next step in my career and taking it game by game."