2010 Watkins Award “Elite Five”: (l to r) Evan Washington – Dallas, Tx; Devin Gardner – Detroit, Mi; Eric Reid – Baton Rouge; Detroiter and keynote speaker Jemele Hill -ESPN; Brandon Willis – Duncan, So. Carolina; David Yankey – Atlanta, Ga.
“I’m a senior and I’m taking honors classes,” Reid explained, “so at first I did not want to do anything extra. I was very busy, but now that I’m here I’m very happy I did the paperwork. This is unlike any fraternity I’ve seen in sports.”
In most cases it takes the parents to push the students to make the extra effort it takes to be considered for the Watkins Award.
However, in the case of Yankey, the Stanford coaching staff cajoled him to apply for the Award. “My coaches told me I would be a great candidate for the Award,” he said. Yankey joins a school that over the years has had more Watkins finalists than any other university; the list is fast approaching 20 Watkins scholar athletes that have earn athletic scholarships to Stanford.
“The 2010 Watkins Award features another year of fine student athletes,” Everette Pearsall, executive director of The Alliance, said. “Each of these young men is well equipped for success academically. We have continued to recognize and honor the premier African-American scholar athletes in the United States.”
The Watkins Award has been presented annually since 1992. Previous awardees include Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle, Justin Blalock of the Atlanta Falcons, Ted Ginn Jr. of the Miami Dolphins, Lorenzo Alexander of the Washington Redskins, Mohammed Massaquoi of the Cleveland Browns, Darnell Dinkins of the New Orleans Saints, LaVarr Arrington of the New York Giants, Grant Irons and Ronald Curry formerly of the Oakland Raiders, Deryck Toles of the Indianapolis Colts, Marcedes Lewis of Jacksonville Jaguars, Ernie Sims of the Detroit Lions, and Darius Walker of the Denver Broncos.
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Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com.
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