Women's Basketball
Watts, Annette
Annette Watts
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- anwatts@davidson.edu
- Phone:
- 2819
Head coach Annette Watts, with over 20 years of coaching experience at both the high school and collegiate levels of play, enters her seventh season as coach of the Davidson women’s basketball team.
She has been on a staff that has made the Women’s NCAA Final Four, as well as coached a high school team to the state quarterfinals.
Just one win away from the century mark and four away from becoming the all-time winningest coach in women's basketball history, Watts' sixth year at Davidson might go down as one of her greatest head coaching accomplishments to date after the Wildcats reached unprecedented success during the 2006-07 season. Davidson earned the program’s first-ever wins over NCAA Tourney participant Gonzaga, Eastern Washington and Cornell, swept its three Big South contests (NCAA Tourney participant UNC Asheville, High Point, who received a WNIT automatic bid, and Winthrop), and secured five two-game season-series sweeps of its Southern Conference foes.
In addition, the Wildcats set seven offensive and defensive single-season records, while winning a school-record 23 times. To top it all off, for the first time in the Wildcats' 28 year history they made a postseason appearance with an invitation into the Women's National Invitational Tournament on Mar. 15, when they face UAB. Despite dropping an 81-77 decision to UAB, Watts was thrilled for the kids and the program to be able to experience postseason play.
“It meant so much to our kids as well as the Davidson women's basketball program when we made the WNIT,” said Watts. “We had a great year and to be able to put the Davidson women's basketball program in the national spotlight can only help this program's future.”
The 2006-07 season was also a season of streaks as Watts' directed the 'Cats to a school-record 10 straight wins, which at one time was the ninth longest in the nation. They also had a school-best nine-game win streak away from Belk Arena, and closed out the regular-season with 11 road wins in all for yet another school benchmark. Davidson also took care of business on its home court, tying the school record for most home wins in a season at ten. The Wildcats were just one less loss from matching the 1997-98 squad with the best-ever home mark at 10-1.
The 2005-06 Wildcats marked their names yet again in the record books and continued to help make Davidson a household name throughout the Southern Conference and the nation. Despite battling injuries all season long, Davidson’s 17 wins and second-place tie in the SoCon — after being picked for fifth place in the preseason — greatly exceeded all expectations. The Wildcats’ 17-12 record was the third winning mark in the past five years. They also advanced to the SoCon semifinals for the second straight year.
The 2004-05 season was a great one for both Watts and the Wildcats. Watts was named 2005 Southern Conference Coach of the Year as voted upon by the media, the first Davidson coach to earn SoCon Coach of the Year honors, and the 18 wins tied the school record for most wins in a season. The Wildcats also had a school-record 14 conference victories and earned the second seed in the SoCon Tournament, the highest seed ever for Davidson in its 13 trips to the league tourney.
In her first four years at the helm of the Wildcats program, Davidson’s record improved every season. After Davidson finished 9-19 in the 2000-01 season, Watts was brought in to turn the program around. As witnessed by her career record, the win totals increased from 10 in Watts’ first year to 18 by her fourth season.
Picked to finish as low as seventh in the 2003-04 preseason polls, Davidson recorded a 13-7 SoCon record to earn a third-place showing in the league and its second-highest finish in the conference in six years.
“It’s a tribute to our players that every year they want to improve, and every year it gets even tougher to improve,” stated Watts.
The transformation of the Davidson women’s basketball program began in Watts’ first year at the helm, 2001-02. She became the first women’s basketball coach in Wildcat history to capture a win in her opening conference game as Davidson downed the College of Charleston, 65-64, on Nov. 27, 2001.
Under Watts’ direction, Davidson defeated three of the top four SoCon teams in 2002-03 on its way a 15-15 record. Two of those triumphs came in the SoCon Tournament where Davidson became the first-ever seventh seed to advance to the semifinals. The Wildcats almost made an improbable run to the championship game, but fell in the waning minutes to Georgia Southern, 62-57.
Coach Watts is certainly known for her high level of energy, and her teams reflect that in their style of play. Davidson’s aggressive defense held opposing teams to just 61.4 points per game in 2006-07.
Davidson has been particularly tough to defeat in Belk Arena since Watts’ arrival. The Wildcats have had a winning record at home in each of her six seasons, including triumphs over such schools as UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina, UNC Wilmington, ETSU and Charlotte.
“Annette brings strong technical skills coupled with an energy level needed to move our program forward,” offered Davidson Director of Athletics Jim Murphy. “Her experience in a Final Four program and background in teaching are appealing to our student-athletes, and her charismatic enthusiasm is contagious.”
Prior to arriving at Davidson, Watts spent two seasons as head coach at Jackson County Comprehensive High School in Jefferson, Ga. She guided that team to the 2001 state quarterfinals, and compiled an overall record of 38-20 in two years as head coach of the Lady Panthers. Her success on the court at Jackson County earned her Coach of the Year honors from the Jackson Herald News.
Before her stint at Jackson, Watts spent two seasons as an assistant under Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow at N.C. State. While with the Wolfpack, she was responsible for scouting opposing teams and recruiting, as well as on-floor coaching. Watts helped lead the 1997-98 Wolfpack squad to its first Final Four appearance. During her two-year tenure in Raleigh, the Wolfpack went 42-19 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament both years.
As a collegiate athlete, Coach Watts spent four seasons at East Tennessee State University where she played guard for the Lady Bucs. She received a bachelor of science degree from ETSU in 1981. Watts continued her post-graduate work at East Tennessee State, earning a master’s degree in secondary math education in 1985.
After departing ETSU, Watts taught and coached basketball at Greeneville (Tenn.) High School for eight years. Active in the Greeneville community, she headed up the Lady Devil (YMCA) Basketball Camp for seven years.
Watts then moved south from Greeneville and served as head women’s coach and full-time teacher at Robert Wood Johnson Comprehensive High School in Gainesville, Ga., where she compiled a career mark of 125-51. She was named Gainesville Times Coach of the Year three times (1992, ’95 and ’96) and also served as director of the Lady Knight Basketball Camp from 1990-95.
In addition to her wealth of coaching experience, Watts was also selected to a three-year term as a member of the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee for Division I women’s basketball. She has also represented the SoCon as a member of the WBCA conference captains for three years.
Formerly Annette Culberson, she is married to Mike Watts, and the couple resides in Mooresville.
She has been on a staff that has made the Women’s NCAA Final Four, as well as coached a high school team to the state quarterfinals.
Just one win away from the century mark and four away from becoming the all-time winningest coach in women's basketball history, Watts' sixth year at Davidson might go down as one of her greatest head coaching accomplishments to date after the Wildcats reached unprecedented success during the 2006-07 season. Davidson earned the program’s first-ever wins over NCAA Tourney participant Gonzaga, Eastern Washington and Cornell, swept its three Big South contests (NCAA Tourney participant UNC Asheville, High Point, who received a WNIT automatic bid, and Winthrop), and secured five two-game season-series sweeps of its Southern Conference foes.
In addition, the Wildcats set seven offensive and defensive single-season records, while winning a school-record 23 times. To top it all off, for the first time in the Wildcats' 28 year history they made a postseason appearance with an invitation into the Women's National Invitational Tournament on Mar. 15, when they face UAB. Despite dropping an 81-77 decision to UAB, Watts was thrilled for the kids and the program to be able to experience postseason play.
“It meant so much to our kids as well as the Davidson women's basketball program when we made the WNIT,” said Watts. “We had a great year and to be able to put the Davidson women's basketball program in the national spotlight can only help this program's future.”
The 2006-07 season was also a season of streaks as Watts' directed the 'Cats to a school-record 10 straight wins, which at one time was the ninth longest in the nation. They also had a school-best nine-game win streak away from Belk Arena, and closed out the regular-season with 11 road wins in all for yet another school benchmark. Davidson also took care of business on its home court, tying the school record for most home wins in a season at ten. The Wildcats were just one less loss from matching the 1997-98 squad with the best-ever home mark at 10-1.
The 2005-06 Wildcats marked their names yet again in the record books and continued to help make Davidson a household name throughout the Southern Conference and the nation. Despite battling injuries all season long, Davidson’s 17 wins and second-place tie in the SoCon — after being picked for fifth place in the preseason — greatly exceeded all expectations. The Wildcats’ 17-12 record was the third winning mark in the past five years. They also advanced to the SoCon semifinals for the second straight year.
The 2004-05 season was a great one for both Watts and the Wildcats. Watts was named 2005 Southern Conference Coach of the Year as voted upon by the media, the first Davidson coach to earn SoCon Coach of the Year honors, and the 18 wins tied the school record for most wins in a season. The Wildcats also had a school-record 14 conference victories and earned the second seed in the SoCon Tournament, the highest seed ever for Davidson in its 13 trips to the league tourney.
In her first four years at the helm of the Wildcats program, Davidson’s record improved every season. After Davidson finished 9-19 in the 2000-01 season, Watts was brought in to turn the program around. As witnessed by her career record, the win totals increased from 10 in Watts’ first year to 18 by her fourth season.
Picked to finish as low as seventh in the 2003-04 preseason polls, Davidson recorded a 13-7 SoCon record to earn a third-place showing in the league and its second-highest finish in the conference in six years.
“It’s a tribute to our players that every year they want to improve, and every year it gets even tougher to improve,” stated Watts.
The transformation of the Davidson women’s basketball program began in Watts’ first year at the helm, 2001-02. She became the first women’s basketball coach in Wildcat history to capture a win in her opening conference game as Davidson downed the College of Charleston, 65-64, on Nov. 27, 2001.
Under Watts’ direction, Davidson defeated three of the top four SoCon teams in 2002-03 on its way a 15-15 record. Two of those triumphs came in the SoCon Tournament where Davidson became the first-ever seventh seed to advance to the semifinals. The Wildcats almost made an improbable run to the championship game, but fell in the waning minutes to Georgia Southern, 62-57.
Coach Watts is certainly known for her high level of energy, and her teams reflect that in their style of play. Davidson’s aggressive defense held opposing teams to just 61.4 points per game in 2006-07.
Davidson has been particularly tough to defeat in Belk Arena since Watts’ arrival. The Wildcats have had a winning record at home in each of her six seasons, including triumphs over such schools as UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina, UNC Wilmington, ETSU and Charlotte.
“Annette brings strong technical skills coupled with an energy level needed to move our program forward,” offered Davidson Director of Athletics Jim Murphy. “Her experience in a Final Four program and background in teaching are appealing to our student-athletes, and her charismatic enthusiasm is contagious.”
Prior to arriving at Davidson, Watts spent two seasons as head coach at Jackson County Comprehensive High School in Jefferson, Ga. She guided that team to the 2001 state quarterfinals, and compiled an overall record of 38-20 in two years as head coach of the Lady Panthers. Her success on the court at Jackson County earned her Coach of the Year honors from the Jackson Herald News.
Before her stint at Jackson, Watts spent two seasons as an assistant under Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow at N.C. State. While with the Wolfpack, she was responsible for scouting opposing teams and recruiting, as well as on-floor coaching. Watts helped lead the 1997-98 Wolfpack squad to its first Final Four appearance. During her two-year tenure in Raleigh, the Wolfpack went 42-19 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament both years.
As a collegiate athlete, Coach Watts spent four seasons at East Tennessee State University where she played guard for the Lady Bucs. She received a bachelor of science degree from ETSU in 1981. Watts continued her post-graduate work at East Tennessee State, earning a master’s degree in secondary math education in 1985.
After departing ETSU, Watts taught and coached basketball at Greeneville (Tenn.) High School for eight years. Active in the Greeneville community, she headed up the Lady Devil (YMCA) Basketball Camp for seven years.
Watts then moved south from Greeneville and served as head women’s coach and full-time teacher at Robert Wood Johnson Comprehensive High School in Gainesville, Ga., where she compiled a career mark of 125-51. She was named Gainesville Times Coach of the Year three times (1992, ’95 and ’96) and also served as director of the Lady Knight Basketball Camp from 1990-95.
In addition to her wealth of coaching experience, Watts was also selected to a three-year term as a member of the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee for Division I women’s basketball. She has also represented the SoCon as a member of the WBCA conference captains for three years.
Formerly Annette Culberson, she is married to Mike Watts, and the couple resides in Mooresville.
| Year(s) | School | W | L | Pct. | W | L | Pct. | Conf. Finish | |
| 1985-92 | Greenville (Tenn.) High | NA | |||||||
| 1992-96 | Robert Wood Johnson | 125 | 51 | .710 | |||||
| 1999-01 | Jackson County High | 38 | 20 | .655 | |||||
| 2001-02 | Davidson | 10 | 18 | .357 | 6 | 12 | .333 | 8th (Southern) | |
| 2002-03 | Davidson | 15 | 15 | .500 | 8 | 10 | .444 | 6th (Southern) | |
| 2003-04 | Davidson | 16 | 12 | .571 | 13 | 7 | .650 | T-3rd (Southern) | |
| 2004-05 | Davidson | 18 | 11 | .621 | 14 | 6 | .700 | 2nd (Southern) | |
| 2005-06 | Davidson | 17 | 12 | .586 | 12 | 6 | .667 | T-2nd (Southern) | |
| 2006-07 | Davidson | 23 | 9 | .719 | 13 | 5 | .722 | T-2nd (Southern) | |
| Totals | Davidson (6 years) | 99 | 77 | .563 | 66 | 46 | .589 |
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