Louis “Lou” Watson was a former Indiana Hoosier basketball player and Indiana University basketball coach. Watson played as a guard for the Hoosiers between 1947 and 1950. He was the team’s leading scorer and he was named on the first-team All-Big Ten in the 1940-1950 season. In 1966, he became Indiana University’s head coach and led the Hoosiers to a Big Ten co-championship in 1967. His overall record as a head coach at Indiana was 62-60. In 1971, he became a special assistant to the athletic director and helped hire Bob Knight as a coach for the Hoosiers. Watson passed away at the age of 88 in 2012 in Fairfax, Virginia.
- Name: Louis C. Watson
- Position: Point Guard
- Nationality: USA
- Age: 88 years old
- Birthday: August 31, 1924
- Deceased: May 24, 2012
- Hometown: Jeffersonville, Indiana
- High School: Jeffersonville High School (Jeffersonville, Indiana)
- Height: 6’5″ (195cm)
- Seasons as a Player: 3 (1947-1948, 1948-1949, 1949-1950)
- Seasons as a Head Coach: 6 (1965-1966, 1966-1967, 1967-1968, 1968-1969, 1969-1970, 1970-1971)
- Overall Coaching Record: 62-60 (0.508)
- Jersey: #6
Awards and Accoldates
- 1950 Indiana University Leading Scorer
- 1950 First Team All-Big Ten
- 2x Winner of the Balfour Award
- 1967 Big Ten Co-Champions
- 1983 Inducted to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
- 1989 Inducted to the IU Athletics Hall of Fame
Lou Watson’s Seasons with the Hoosiers as a Player
20-3 (9-3 Big Ten)
Lou Watson’s Indiana University Career Statistics
| Season | G | FG | FGA | FG% | FT | FTA | FT% | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946-1947 | 17 | 43 | – | – | 26 | – | – | – | 112 |
| 1947-1948 | 16 | 70 | 251 | 0.279 | 33 | 51 | 0.647 | 47 | 170 |
| 1948-1949 | 22 | 80 | 278 | 0.288 | 56 | 88 | 0.636 | 65 | 216 |
| 1949-1950 | 21 | 102 | 325 | 0.314 | 52 | 94 | 0.553 | 56 | 256 |
| Career | 76 | 295 | 854 | 0.295 | 167 | 233 | 0.605 | 168 | 757 |
Lou Watson’s High School and Navy Service
Lou Watson was a graduate of Jeffersonville High School in 1943. At Jeffersonville, Lou Watson was a four-year varsity. He was a three-time all section and all-regional player and broke scoring records along the way. Due to World War II, Lou Watson enrolled into the Navy and delayed his progression to college. He was the only person on his service team to play high school basketball. Watson ended up being the leading scorer on his unit that was noted to be ranked third in the country among all other units.
Lou Watson’s Career as an Indiana University Player
After the war was over, Lou Watson finally enrolled at Indiana University. Lou Watson played under head coach Branch McCracken for all four years of his college career. His experience and age helped kick start his collegiate basketball career. Watson was also a dual-athlete at Indiana University, since he also played and lettered on Indiana’s baseball team.
By the end of Lou Watson’s career, his 757 points became Indiana’s all-time leading scoring record (breaking Ralph Hamilton’s previous record) and he was named first team All-Big Ten. He also received All-American honors during his senior year at Indiana University. Although he never had an opportunity to play in the postseason with the Hoosiers, he had one of the most impressive careers in program history up until that point.
Lou Watson’s Career as an Indiana University Coach
Upon graduation, Lou Watson became an assistant coach for the Hoosiers and specifically coached the freshmen players in 1951 and 1952. He would return back to coaching the freshmen in 1956-1957 as well. By 1958, Lou Watson coached the varsity squad and he later became the head coach of Indiana University in 1966, where he would have a six-season career with the Hoosiers. Most notably, he led the Hoosiers to a Big Ten co-championship in 1967 and finished with an overall record of 62-60.
In 1970, Lou Watson coached one of the most legendary players in Indiana University program history George McGinnis, who averaged 29.9 points per game and 14.5 rebounds per game in his single-season with the Hoosiers. McGinnis still holds the records for highest season averages in both categories.
Lou Watson’s Career after Coaching
In 1971, Lou Watson stepped down as head coach. Watson had a surgery that forced him to miss the final 20 games of the 1969-1970 season, and Watson decided to call it quits on his coaching career to focus on recovery. He was replaced by Jerry Oliver in both occasions to conclude the 1969-1970 season and 1970-1971 season.
He took a position as a special assistant to the Athletic Director in 1971 and he was a significant influencer in bringing head coach Bob Knight to Indiana University as the new head coach of the university. In 1976, Lout Watson became an Associate Director of Athletics before retiring in 1987 at the age of 53.
Lou Watson’s Passing
Indiana fans received unfortunate news on May 25, 2012. Lou Watson passed away in Fairfax, Virginia at the age of 88. Both then-Indiana head coach Tom Crean and athletic director Fred Glass had comments on the illustrious career of Watson.