Southern Arkansas University Athletics

W. T. Watson was selected as a member of the 2003 inaugural Southern Arkansas University Sports Hall of Fame class as a coach. Watson, who was associated with SAU athletic programs for 39 years, was formally inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame February 28. 
 
Watson was SAU’s Director of Athletics from 1979 until his retirement in 1998. He was recruited by the late Elmer Smith in 1949 to play basketball for the Muleriders and was a four-year starter. He finished his career as the 22^nd all-time scorer at the university and a member of SAU’s 300-Point Club with 386 career points. He also played baseball for the ‘Riders and was a starter on the 1953 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) championship team.
 
Watson returned to SAU as head basketball coach in 1963, a year after SAU won only one game. He turned the conference doormat into a power with AIC championships in 1966, 1967 and 1971 and won National Association of Intercollegiate (NAIA) District 17 championships in 1966, 1967, 1970 and 1971. He was named the NAIA District Coach of the Year three times and his ‘Riders were the recipient of the AIC Sportsmanship Trophy in 1964.
 
The coach with the most basketball wins in SAU history, Watson compiled a 17-year record of 300 wins-151 losses from 1963 until 1980, the highest winning basketball percentage ever at SAU (.665). After renovation, Mulerider gymnasium became the W.T. Watson Athletic Center in 1997 in his honor.