Jamir Watkins: A Seminole Leader

TALLAHASSEE – Florida State senior Jamir Watkins enjoyed the dream summer that every basketball player hopes for. He traveled to amazing places, met new people, played plenty of basketball, and gained a strong sense of himself and the direction of his career following his graduation in May of 2025.

The places Watkins traveled to included Chicago, Sacramento, Portland, Denver, Charlotte, and Milwaukee. The people he met were NBA general managers, coaches, and player personnel directors.

For Watkins, who entered his name into the NBA Draft selection process on April 25, he spent the better part of three months on job interviews at the NBA Draft Combine and at the practice facilities of numerous NBA teams around the country.

But ultimately, he decided that continuing to learn under head coach Leonard Hamilton and his staff, and taking to heart what he heard from each of the NBA executives he spoke with, was the best path he could take for his basketball career.

Watkins and the Seminoles play host to No. 19/20 Florida on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Seminole fans will welcome the Gators with rally towels for the first 1,500 fans, "Beat Florida" key chains for the first 200 fans, and free Whataburger coupons. Fans are also asked to bring a new unwrapped toy as Hamilton and his team sponsors Toys for Kids night for local children to celebrate the holiday season. Fans are also invited to a Party on the Patio at the Tucker Center before entering the arena.

Watkins was named as the ACC Player of the Week (co) during the first week of the season as he led the Seminoles to two wins, scored 30 points in the Seminoles' victory over Rice, and averaged 23.5 points per game.

The guard from Trenton, New Jersey, is certainly happy to be back in the Garnet and Gold for one more season.

"The NBA executives love my high energy and my physicality," said Watkins. "They thought I needed to improve on my reads throughout ball screens, improve my 3-point shot making, and stay consistent."

Those are the things Watkins has worked on tirelessly since his decision to come back to Florida State for his final college season.

He's also worked on becoming a leader – both on and off of the court.

"With me, I like to lead by example," said Watkins. "I understand how my teammates take things. I try to lead by example, to get my point across to guys on the side. I don't want to call people out in front of everyone because I understand how that feels and how it makes people feel. I'm more of a lead-by-example guy.

Pouring my knowledge and experience into my young guys is what I'm working hard to do. It's helped me become more mature so that when I get back to that NBA stage I'll be ready."

Watkins' leadership is vitally important on this year's Seminole team, which is playing with 10 newcomers to the roster, two newcomers in the starting lineup, and eight first-year players who are averaging more than 10 minutes played per game.

Watkins (who is averaging a career-high 18.3 points per game through the first three games of the season), sophomore Taylor Bol Bowen (a career-high 9.0 points per game), and junior Chandler Jackson (a career-high 5.3 points per game) are the Seminoles most experienced players. As starters Watkins, Bol Bowen, and Jackson are averaging a combined 32.6 points scored per game.

With two newcomers in the starting lineup (senior Bostyn Holt and junior Malique Ewin) and six who are playing major minutes, the fresh faces have been asked to take important roles on both offense and defense.

The newcomers are averaging a combined 40.4 points per game and contributing a combined 21.6 rebounds per game.

That's where Watkins' leadership abilities have meant the most to the Seminoles.

"Jamir has really stepped up his leadership of this year's team," said assistant coach Kevin Nickelberry. "He's become the leader while being the centerpiece of a team that gets along extremely well on and off the court. Our success this season is going to be very much tied into our team chemistry and Jamir has a lot to do with that.

"Jamir has always been very talented but he has put in the extra work to move from being primarily a defensive big wing, to a three level scorer that still defends at a high level."

Watkins is the Seminoles' most experienced returning player and has played in 97 career games (36 games at Florida State and 61 at VCU) as he enters play against the Gators.

"I would say coming back to college gave me a big boost," said Watkins. "I feel like I'm a more advanced player and I've seen what it takes to make it at the next level. I've become comfortable taking on a leadership role and trusting in myself, having faith in myself, and my teammates. I just want to play my heart out for Coach Ham and this program."

Watkins has illustrated his desire to lead this program to a successful season during the first three games of the season.

He was certainly a leader by example in Florida State's important neutral site victory over Rice. He scored 30 points – including 17 in the second half – to go along with six rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot. Watkins was chosen as the MVP of the game.

Hamilton, who was in constant communication with his star guard throughout the NBA Draft process, was certainly happy when Watkins chose to return to Florida State.

It was good for Jamir to go through the NBA Draft process," said Hamilton. "It's given him such a different perspective and showed him what he has to work on. He's certainly working on making himself a better player."

Watkins will have plenty of chances to explore cities across the country as he moves to the next level. However, He'll always remember the Summer of 2024 for the valuable lessons he learned about his future.

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Bol Bowen

Malique Ewin

Bostyn Holt

Chandler Jackson

Jamir Watkins

Florida State University Athletics