Former NIC coach Watson adjusting

There are tradeoffs in every profession.

Hugh Watson left North Idaho College in September to take over a Lincoln Memorial University men’s basketball program that had lost 13 straight games to conclude last season. Before he arrived, his top player was dismissed from the team.

Shortly after arriving, he cut ties with two more players. His team has a 4-16 record.

But his grandson was a ball boy at a recent game, a fact Watson chuckled about when the young lad tugged on his pants during a game and said, “I’m out of towels.” His twin granddaughters come over to his house to go swimming. And the Railsplitters are usually competitive, if not always successful on the court.

“I’ve never gone through anything like this in my life,” said Watson, who was at NIC for eight seasons. “I knew it was going to be an overhaul. When I interviewed I asked them and they said, ‘Just compete next season.’ “

LMU competes in the Gulf South, a top tier NCAA Division II conference. More importantly LMU is located in Harrogate, Tenn., a reasonable drive from Watson’s daughter Leigh Ann and son Tyler. Leigh Ann is married to former Idaho Vandals football standout Mike Zeller, who coaches at Greeneville (Tenn.) High.

“It’s good to be back with family, it really is,” Watson said. “I miss so many people up there. But the twins came over on Sunday and I see them every week now. I’m making contacts again and there are some people I haven’t seen in so long that I don’t even recognize them.”

LMU travels by bus to all of its games, some as far away as Georgia and Florida. But as bleak as the season has been, there have been bright spots and the program has considerable upside.

A new bus is on the way. LMU’s Tex Turner Arena has 5,000 chair-back seats and is one of the top D-II facilities in the nation. There are fertile recruiting grounds within a couple hours – Knoxville is 55 miles away, Lexington is a two-hour drive.

“They’re good kids,” Watson said of his players. “I’ve never had any kids play as hard as this bunch. I’ve coached my tail off. I’ve probably coached more than I have in several years. Still, our talent level … we played West Georgia and they had eight Division I transfers. It was high school going against college.”

LMU does have one high-profile member who has signed more autographs than the rest of the team combined. One of Watson’s assistant coaches is Dave Chesney. Never heard of him? He’s country music singer Kenny Chesney’s dad.

Watson and the elder Chesney were best buddies and classmates at Hiwassee College in Madsonville, Tenn. Dave played baseball at LMU and earned induction in the school’s Hall of Fame. Chesney was a prep basketball coach in Tennessee.

“Before one of our home games, I saw him autographing a girl’s arm,” Watson said. “We go to our motel in Florida and somehow the workers had found out. We got in early and they had him signing autographs while our kids are standing there holding their bags.”

Watson hasn’t met Kenny, but plans are in the works to attend a Chesney concert this spring. Meanwhile, Watson wants to help the Railsplitters qualify for the Gulf South Tournament then dive into recruiting.

“We’re getting in a position where we can compete,” he said. “It’s a big challenge. I’ve got new springs in my legs and it’s just a matter of getting things turned around.”