Photo by Kyle Parmley
Mountain Brook’s Trendon Watford (2) dunks during a game against McAdory on Dec. 3. The five-star prospect has the ability to score in a variety of ways.
Trendon Watford could post 50 points per game if he really wanted to.
The Mountain Brook High School senior possesses the skills to score from anywhere on the court, whether by using his improved 3-point shot or overpowering opponents in the paint with his 6-foot-9 frame. He’s put more than a few defenders on posters throughout his career with highlight dunks.
Posting gaudy numbers could have helped Watford rise further up recruiting boards. He’s a consensus top 30 prospect in his class nationally, though most rankings have him higher.
But Watford isn’t a selfish player, and that’s a big reason the Mountain Brook boys basketball program is working toward a potential third straight Class 7A state championship this winter.
“He chooses to be a great player and help his team be successful,” said Spartans head coach Bucky McMillan.
Watford said that’s how he was taught to play growing up. The forward won Mr. Basketball, the award given by the Alabama Sports Writers Association to the state’s top player, as a junior. He filled the stat sheet on a nightly basis, registering on average 23.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2.2 blocks and 1.7 steals per contest, helping lead the Spartans to a 34-4 overall record.
“I try to look out for my teammates as much as I can,” he said. “Even when I was little, I was never the type to take every shot, even though I probably could.”
LIKE FAMILY
Watford moved to Mountain Brook ahead of his ninth-grade year, after two years attending Irondale Middle School and playing varsity basketball at Shades Valley High. But his relationship with his head coach goes back much further than that.
McMillan, a Mountain Brook alumnus, has known the Watford family for many years, dating to McMillan’s time as a player at Birmingham-Southern College in the mid-2000s. During that time, McMillan would come back to the high school to train. Sometimes those training sessions included a young Watford.
“I’ve known ‘T’ since he was 5 [years old],” said McMillan, sitting in the old gym at Mountain Brook High School. “In this gym — we didn’t have the other gym yet — when I was playing at Birmingham-Southern, he’d come in here and work out with me.”
Since Watford arrived in the program as a freshman, McMillan has seen a great deal of growth in his star player.
“The biggest deal is his intensity every play, mentally and physically, has picked up a lot. When he was a ninth-grader, that was his biggest challenge,” McMillan said.
Watford knew he wanted to be in a successful high school program that would push him, and Mountain Brook has provided that and more.
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Watford said. “The high school community welcomed me with open arms and now they look at me as family. I’ve definitely enjoyed it here.”
PROGRAM GUY
Mountain Brook has won four state championships in the last six seasons, only missing out in 2015 — when Hoover knocked off the Spartans in the 7A final — and 2016. Two of those were won before Watford, and with the strength of the program in McMillan’s decade-long tenure, it’s not far-fetched to suggest the Spartans will win more after Watford graduates.
Watford embraces the idea that he is part of the program at Mountain Brook and not the center of it.
“I think what it really does is shows the strength of our program,” McMillan said. “Not only does somebody that’s not going to play basketball in college play the right way, but a guy like him values the program enough to play the right way and not be all about him.”
Watford could have just as easily bolted for a prep school for his final year or two of high school, a trend that has seen the state of Alabama lose a number of its top players over the last few years.
McMillan pointed out Watford’s love for the people around him as well. He has gone to the local elementary schools to read to students, shown up at a young kid’s birthday party and is attempting to enjoy his final season alongside his teammates.
“I’m just trying to have fun,” he said. “I won’t get this time back. I’ll never get to play again with some of these guys. I’ve been playing with Alex Washington [who recently committed to play football at Harvard University] since my freshman year, and it’s all coming to an end with me and him playing together.”
DECISION TIME
Watford has been pursued by just about every college basketball program in the country, and soon he will choose one to continue his athletic and academic careers. The five-star prospect narrowed his list to four schools in December, with Alabama, Indiana, LSU and Memphis in the running.
He said he plans to sign in February or March.
“I’m looking for a school where they’ll mature me on and off the court, and obviously a program where I trust the coaches to get me to the next level,” he said.
Watford can look to his older brother, Christian, for guidance. He was a high-profile recruit out of high school as well and ended up going to Indiana, where he had a successful four-year career. He is currently playing for the Raptors 905 organization in the G-League.
“He’s with me every step of the way,” Watford said of his older brother. He echoed the same sentiment about his parents.
McMillan said, “If there was a five-star that this state should be proud of, it’s him.”
Watford will attempt to make some history on the way out the door, as well. If the Spartans can take home the top prize, they will become the first team to win three straight state titles in the AHSAA’s largest classification in 85 years.
“I just hope that everyone in this state makes it a point to come see him play as much as possible,” McMillan said.
