Enterprise is on the Move

Enterprise is on the Move: Avery Watkins-Put Up or Shut up!

Avery Watkins is an interesting guy. A soft-spoken man of few words and if his team is not playing you wouldn’t even notice him in the gym. He always seems to find a way to put great teams together and get those “Ws”…I met Avery a few years ago at a Holiday Tournament in Philly. They weren’t in our bracket [Thank Goodness] and what I witnessed was a group of middle-aged men taking no prisoners, and literally making a living on both sides of the backboards. When the larger, experienced players go to work under the boards, there’s really nowhere to hide. They didn’t win that tournament [neither did we] but we stayed in touch and I caught a similar act from the team he sponsored down in the Ocean City Maryland Tournament. This particular assembly of Enterprise players was younger, (including a few of the ballas that had defeated them in that Holiday Tournament in Philly) but they displayed the same game intensity as the Enterprise vets. They were loud, loose and relaxed before the first whistle, but once the game started, they were men of few words. They were taking no prisoners. Putting Up and Shutting Up.

Avery’s playing years & winning ways began at age 10. He was 5’10” 165 lbs rookie in the Mt Olivet S.D.A. Church League, playing with men twice his age. Avery was playing with his older brother Kenny and in his first league experience they won The Chip! “It was a great experience as a little boy…I was playing with men & it was a great league” says Avery. “Robert Hubbard was the Commissioner…he was an excellent commish, he ran a tight ship. The rules were the rules & he didn’t vary from them.” Watkins gained experience as a quiet, disciplined player & moved on a few years later to Edgewood JHS, then Overbrook Regional where he was a 6’2 180 lb center… rebounding, scoring and ball-handling for successful campaigns. For the most part keeping his mouth shut and putting up major numbers in the stats dept. “I learned patience from the JV coach & I learned how to think the game from Dick Stewart” [varsity coach]…& when I got to Overbrook I learned “Defense” from Bill Lang!” Accumulating “W’s” is what Avery has done, from the 1970’ to the 90’s, playing & coaching victories in the SDA League, Winslow Township, Siklerville, Southern Camden League, Medford Over 35 League, etc, etc…Put Up or …

The new millennium naturally brought Watkins into the front office, and he is very comfortable as a GM. With the introduction of Coach Ron Griffin and access to the broader Camden/Philly talent pool, the Watkins sponsored Enterprise has emerged as the team to beat in every tournament they participate in. Player personnel includes the offensively dangerous Lamar Singletary, the crowd favorite and penetrating showman Charles “Chew’ Bostic, and the 6’10” big man holding things together on the boards Big Mo Williams to name a few. Winning games in the ML King Games [NYC], Hoops in the Sun [NYC], The Coach White Classic [VA Beach] Ocean City Md, Garden State Challenge and the Philly Holiday Classics. The successful businessman and GM now sits in the driver’s seat of a club that is known from the Eastern Shores of Virginia to the beaches of the North Bronx, NYC. Watkins reflects on working with young men & leading by example, “The biggest challenge that young men face today is they don’t have enough roll models…men that they can take something positive from…Fast money??!! There’s no such thing as fast money…It’s not worth it. Drug life only leads to jail or death.” This hard working Man, Mentor, Entrepreneur, General Manager continues to quietly “Put UP” & the community and our young men are the beneficiaries.