Mitchell Watt (basketball)

College career

Mitchell Watt, a 6'10" forward-center from Desert Edge High School in Goodyear, Arizona, played his college ball at Buffalo under coach Reggie Witherspoon. He cracked the starting lineup as a freshman in 2008-09 and quickly earned the nickname sWatt for his defensive prowess. His sophomore season was hampered by Guillain-Barré syndrome, which limited his impact. For his first three years, he primarily served as a rebounder and defensive stopper.

As a junior, he put up 8.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game. In his senior year, his scoring nearly doubled to 16.3 points, along with 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.2 blocks per contest.

He guided the Bulls to a 12-4 conference record, earning MAC Player of the Year and an AP honorable mention All-American nod. Over his career, he totaled 1,061 points, 565 rebounds, and 195 blocks. He was selected for the Reese's College All-Star Game at the 2012 Final Four.

Professional career

In April 2012, Watt set the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament record for blocked shots with 13. After going undrafted in the 2012 NBA draft, he played for the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2012 NBA Summer League. He signed a one-year deal with Hapoel Gilboa Galil of the Israeli Basketball Super League in August 2012. He joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2013 NBA Summer League and later signed a one-year deal with Ironi Nes Ziona.

2014–15 season

In 2014, he played for the Golden State Warriors in summer league, signed with the Warriors in September, and was waived in October. He then joined the Santa Cruz Warriors as an affiliate player before leaving in December to re-sign with Ironi Nes Ziona. He played for the Toronto Raptors in the 2015 NBA Summer League and signed with Alba Berlin of the Basketball Bundesliga in August 2015, parting ways in March 2016. In August 2016, he signed with JuveCaserta of Serie A, averaging 14.9 points and 9.0 rebounds and being named team MVP.

He signed a two-year deal with Reyer Venezia in August 2017. On May 2, 2018, he won the FIBA Europe Cup with Reyer Venezia, averaging 11.5 points and 4.5 rebounds, and the team finished third in the Italian League. In June 2019, he won the Italian league championship with Reyer Venezia, was a finalist for league MVP, averaged 15.3 points and 5.5 rebounds, led the league with 70.1 FG%, and was named to the All-Italian League second team. He played 126 straight games with Reyer Venezia.

2019–20 season

He won the 2020 final eight Italian Cup with Reyer Venezia and was selected First Team All Final Eight Cup. He was Eurocup regular season round 6 MVP against Partizan NIS with 27 points and 11/12 FG. Reyer made the Eurocup quarterfinals before being suspended indefinitely due to COVID-19. He averaged 12.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in the Eurocup and was named Eurobasket All-Eurocup Honorable Mention.

In Italian Lega Basket, he averaged 14.5 points and 7.4 rebounds and was named Lega Basket Serie A First Team All Defensive Center and First Team center. He signed a multi-year contract extension with Reyer Venezia on June 22, 2020. He was named Italian League MVP for January 2021 and received Eurocup Honorable Mention in 2022.