Clarke Central High School senior varsity basketball player Kendarius Watson poses in the Crawford Arena during basketball practice. Watson was in a motor-vehicle accident his junior year and is looking forward to playing basketball again for his senior year. “I feel like this year, it’s gon’ be a big impact on our region cause we’re coming hard just by Coach Mac,” Watson said. Photo by Zoe Peterson
The ODYSSEY Media Group will provide viewers with stylized profiles that center on people in the Athens community telling their own stories.
Still recovering from a motor-vehicle accident, Clarke Central High School varsity basketball player Kendarius Watson, a senior, rejoins his team for the 2017-18 basketball season.
From the age of seven, basketball has been a major part of his life. Starting at the Boys and Girls Club discovering a love for the sport and going on to play in middle and high school, he built a strong connection with his teammates. He aspired to pursue basketball as a career.
But in 30 seconds, that all changed.
Instead of running on the court with his teammates, his junior year was spent relearning how to walk.
Instead of going out to eat, celebrating wins with his family and teammates, he was relearning how to eat.
He thought he would never make it back onto the court with his teammates senior year.
On Jan. 15, Clarke Central High School senior varsity basketball player Kendarius Watson was in a motorbike accident that left him with a 10 percent chance of ever walking again.
When he first starting rehabilitation, he faced difficulties with skills that used to come naturally to him. He couldn’t pick up a ball, he couldn’t dribble, he couldn’t even shoot.
Ten months later, he is training harder than ever. Three hours a day, six days a week, he lifts weights, goes to the gym, plays basketball and attends physical therapy.
“I’m able to dribble, shoot, maneuver, do everything. I’m still not as quick as I used to be though,” Ken said.
He is defying all expectations and will stop at nothing to step on that court with his teammates again for his senior season.
“I feel like anything is possible if you just put your mind to it and your heart to it,” Ken said.
