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Carolina Basketball 2011-12 JUSTIN WATTS FRESHMAN SEASON (2008-09) Member of the 2009 national champions • Played in 27 games, including four of the six games in the NCAA Tournament • Scored the final two points against Michigan State in the NCAA championship game in Detroit • Played 85 minutes with a season- high 11 against Chaminade and UNC Asheville • Scored 19 points and had five assists • Had a season- high nine points and four rebounds in Maui against Chaminade • Had a pair of assists against Radford in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament • Played three first- half minutes against Oklahoma in the South Regional final. PREP Played for Coach Kim Annas at Jordan, where he averaged 24.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.0 rebounds per game • Had a season- high 34 points against Northern Durham • Also an outstanding student • Was the Pac-6 Conference Player of the Year, District 6 Player of the Year, three-time all- conference selection and Jordan MVP • Made the all-tournament team at the GlaxoSmithKline event • Two-time team captain. PERSONAL Born Justin Lee Watts on July 1, 1990, in Durham, N.C. • Son of Gregory and Linda Watts • His dad played at Troy State • His cousin, Hank Poteat, played eight NFL seasons with Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, New England and the New York Jets • Communication studies major. TarHeelBlue.com Focus: THE RINGLEADER by Adam Lucas, TarHeelBlue.com John Henson is amazed by Justin Watts. Not by the senior's athleticism, although he's sneakily one of the highest jumpers on the roster. Not by his selfless dedication to the team, although Watts played out of position in the post for much of last year because of a lack of big man depth. No, when Watts is mentioned, Henson immediately mentions the senior's jewelry collection. "Justin has, like, five rings," Henson says incredulously. "He's got rings from tournaments and championships and all kinds of things. Any time you win a ring, that's something you have to respect." For the record, Watts has four rings. He has two national championship rings from 2009—one issued by the NCAA and one issued by the school. He has an ACC championship ring from 2009, when the Tar Heels claimed the regular season title. And he added a fourth in 2011, when Carolina won another league regular season championship. Watts doesn't parade his winnings around the locker room, so he's not quite sure how Henson calculated his tally. "I keep them at my mother's house," Watts says. "She has them on display. I think I may have worn one of them one time to church, but that was it. I don't want to take the chance of something happening to them, so I keep them up there on the shelf." The goal for his senior season is to add to that collection. Watts and Tyler Zeller are attempting to become the first Tar Heels ever to play on two national championship teams. The 6-foot-5 Watts isn't entirely certain what his role will be in 2011-12. Carolina has replenished some of the post depth, adding James Michael McAdoo, Desmond Hubert and Jackson Simmons to go with Henson and Zeller. This season, it might be that more minutes are available on the wing, where Leslie McDonald's offseason knee injury could open some playing time. Because of that uncertainty, Watts didn't spend his offseason preparing for one particular senior role. Instead, he worked on his game as a whole, so he'll be ready to contribute on the perimeter or in the post, whatever the coaching staff asks of him. As the lone scholarship seniors on a talented team with plenty of expectations, Zeller and Watts will also have a leadership role. Watts is not naturally a vocal person, but learned from watching players like Danny Green and Marcus Ginyard earlier in his career that it's not always the person talking the loudest who provides the leadership. "You watch and learn when you're a freshman and sophomore," he says. "That teaches you what the freshmen will need to hear, because you remember what you needed to hear when you were a freshman. "Being a leader doesn't mean yelling at people. It can mean that if we have weights, make sure everyone knows. Freshmen may not know how important it is to be on time and do the little things. If we have weights at 3:00, don't get there at 2:55. Be there at 2:30. They may think small things are a big deal, but it goes a long way towards avoiding distractions." 13 Robert Crawford