A Virginia basketball fan favorite is returning to Charlottesville in a training and mentorship role. Travis Watson, an ACC Living Legend honoree, was appointed as the Director of Training at The Players Zone.
The Players Zone is a private basketball training gym in Charlottesville that opened in 2021. It provides membership access of private and open gym basketball space 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Watson will bring “The Legacy Driven Training with Travis Watson” program to the facility with additional training options on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Monthly memberships and drop-in options are available for purchase.
“I’m super excited about the opportunity to partner with The Players Zone as it allowed me the opportunity to return to my Charlottesville roots. However, the core of my decision to partner, are the common aspirations to contribute our resources to create a sense of community. Together we can carry out the mission to empower our youth to be better players and people,” Watson said in a news release.
Watson starred at UVA from 1999-2003. He scored 1,546 points and grabbed 1,115 rebounds. He posted 54 double-doubles in his career. That ranks 16th all time at Virginia in scoring. The latter two categories of rebounds and double-doubles are second only to Ralph Sampson in program history. He is the school’s all-time leader in offensive rebounds. He also had 130 career blocks to rank 6th all time.
After his Cavalier career, Watson played overseas from 2003-2015 before retiring in Milan, Italy. Since retirement, he has focused on working with teams and organizations to help develop players on the court and in the community. He will apply that background as Director of Training at The Players Zone where he will work to form partnerships with local schools, nonprofit organizations and at-risk youth programs. He offers specialized mentoring to those in need and has the goal to establish his Legacy Driven Training program as non-profit to further expand its reach.
“By focusing on both the physical and mental aspects of the game, we will work with every player to set achievable goals designed to increase their ability, confidence, and competitive drive,” Watson said in a news release. “We are deeply passionate about a results-driven approach that gives kids of all ages confidence to be the best version of themselves both on and off the court, applying the skills we teach them. Our classes are structured to encourage the competitive nature of each individual player. We feel being competitive is an essential component to developing and building a strong ‘championship mentality’.”
Visit The Player Zone web site for more information.
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