{"id":168066,"date":"2026-03-19T10:31:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T10:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/168066\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T10:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T10:31:11","slug":"queens-jordan-watford-puts-sc-hometown-on-ncaa-stage-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/168066\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens\u2019 Jordan Watford puts SC hometown on NCAA stage again"},"content":{"rendered":"

About 20 minutes into a conversation about one of the best players he\u2019s instructed, Lancaster High School boys\u2019 basketball coach Jarron Cauthen<\/a> will tell you exactly what he\u2019ll be doing Friday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be right over here on my couch,\u201d Cauthen said, \u201cwith the rest of my family and whoever else wants to come over here and watch the game with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a caveat, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m going to be right front row center, and I\u2019m probably going to be standing up the whole time,\u201d the coach continued. He laughed. \u201cI\u2019m going to help Grant Leonard coach from my living room floor<\/a>. And I\u2019m going to help Jordan as much as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lancaster's Lancaster’s Jordan Watford shoots a foul shot at the 2025 Class 4A state championships in Florence, S.C. TRACY KIMBALL tkimball@heraldonline.com <\/p>\n

The \u201cJordan\u201d who Cauthen is referring to is Jordan Watford, a 6-foot-5 freshman wing at Queens University of Charlotte. And the game? That\u2019s the one at 7:35 p.m. ET Friday on TruTV, when the 15th-seeded Queens will take on 2-seeded Purdue<\/a> in St. Louis in the first round of this year\u2019s NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a game that puts Lancaster, South Carolina, on the college basketball radar. On the \u201cmap,\u201d so to speak. This wouldn\u2019t be the first time, either. Watford, in fact, is the third player Cauthen has coached who has made it to the NCAA Tournament. The first was Ron Trapps<\/a>, who did so at Coastal Carolina; the most recent was Sindarius Thornwell, who led the South Carolina Gamecocks to a Final Four run in 2017.<\/p>\n

But ask specifically about his 10,000-person hometown 45 miles south of Charlotte, and Watford realizes how cool this moment is. He doesn\u2019t need Cauthen\u2019s reminder, necessarily; he knows it himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve talked to some people in Lancaster who\u2019ve played college ball,\u201d Watford told The Charlotte Observer in an interview this week. \u201cBeing able to make the tournament my first year in college ball, when some people don\u2019t make it, be able to do that with Coach Leonard for the city of Lancaster, it\u2019s just great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former Former Lancaster High School basketball standout Jordan Watford now plays at Queens in Charlotte. TRACY KIMBALL tkimball@heraldonline.com Jordan Watford and his run with Queens<\/p>\n

This moment doesn\u2019t come without Watford\u2019s decision to come to Queens. And that doesn\u2019t come without Queens\u2019 belief in him.<\/p>\n

Not that such belief was hard to come by.<\/p>\n

Watford graduated from Lancaster High School as the No. 1 recruit in all of South Carolina<\/a>. Coach Cauthen awarded him his first varsity jersey at the end of his eighth grade season. He was the best player in Chester, Lancaster and York counties a few years later. By his junior year, he was fielding interest from a bevy of schools, from South Carolina to Clemson, from Mississippi State to Furman \u2014 still getting Division 1 interest despite the transfer portal dimming high school recruitment.<\/p>\n

But by his senior year, one school rose above the rest. And that was Queens. The Royals coaching staff, led by Leonard and assistant coach Dan Bailey, was courtside at Watford\u2019s high school games and on the road with him at AAU tournaments. Watford remembers last season when his family hosted Leonard and other staff members for an in-home visit, catered by soul food Lancaster institution Mully\u2019s Restaurant<\/a>. (\u201dMy mom made the sweets, and it was delicious,\u201d Watford said. That meant \u201cdifferent types of cakes,\u201d including his favorites: carrot cake and honey bun cake.)<\/p>\n

Watford ultimately committed to Queens for a variety of reasons. \u201cTrust,\u201d as his high school coach said, was a big reason why. Trust in the coaching staff. In the facilities. In the ambition the school showed. Queens moved from Division II to Division I in 2023, and this is the first year the Royals were eligible for Division I postseason play after sitting out an NCAA-mandated transition phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cWat\u2019s awesome,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cGlad we\u2019re part of his journey. Fantastic player but an even better person. I think he believed in our values, how we treat people. He wanted to be a part of a culture that\u2019s about growth, that\u2019s about development.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came here and got better and better, too. I love that players can see, \u2018Hey, if I choose Queens, I\u2019m going to get what I want out of this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Winthrop Winthrop University’s Pharrell Boyogueno heads to the basket around Queens University’s Jordan Watford on Nov. 3, 2025, at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center. TRACY KIMBALL tkimball@heraldonline.com Jordan Watford can impact a team with \u2018whatever you need\u2019<\/p>\n

Watford certainly has gotten what he wanted in his first year.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the sixth-man on the most balanced teams in the Atlantic Sun, and really in all of mid-major basketball. Queens has six players averaging double figures;<\/a> Watford averages 11.9 points per game \u2014 third-highest on the team.<\/p>\n

He essentially plays starter minutes, too, averaging 20.6 minutes a game. And when the going gets tough, like against Central Arkansas in the ASUN championship game, Leonard can put the ball in Watford\u2019s hands in the middle of a zone and expect him to make the right play.<\/p>\n

It made Cauthen, his high school coach watching down in South Carolina, smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were 10 minutes left in the game,\u201d Cauthen said. \u201cThey put Jordan in the middle of the zone. Every single time, Jordan was the outlet guy. He\u2019d reverse pivot. … And all the shooter\u2019s gotta do is catch and shoot. … He made the right plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never had to tell Jordan, \u2018Go get a bucket.\u2019 I\u2019d tell him, \u2018Go make the right play.\u2019 Now, if it called for a bucket, he\u2019s gonna make it. If it calls for a pass, he\u2019s gonna pass. Whatever you need, he\u2019s going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lancaster's Lancaster’s Jordan Watford heads to the basket at the 2025 Class 4A championship game against North Augusta in Florence, S.C. TRACY KIMBALL tkimball@heraldonline.com \u2018It\u2019s a dream come true\u2019<\/p>\n

Watford called being a part of March Madness \u201ca dream come true.\u201d He couldn\u2019t be more effusive of Leonard at Queens.<\/p>\n

Cauthen, too.<\/p>\n

Said Watford: \u201cCoach Cauthen, the way he coached me up from eighth grade all the way to the end of my senior year, it\u2019s what a kid would want. The coach being tough on you, but also being real enough to show true love to you. That\u2019s what you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the only way Cauthen knows how. It\u2019s why the coach still calls Watford after every game, why he checks in on him, why he imbues confidence in him at his every chance.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also why, on Friday, he\u2019ll be treating his living room floor as if he was at Queens\u2019 game in St. Louis \u2014 telling him to get in the middle of the zone, beckoning him to get back on defense, letting him make his hometown proud.<\/p>\n

\"Lancaster's Lancaster’s Jordan Watford shoots the ball against North Augusta’s Jamison Mckenzie at the 2025 Class 4A state championships in Florence, S.C. TRACY KIMBALL tkimball@heraldonline.com <\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Alex Zietlow<\/a><\/p>\n

The Charlotte Observer<\/p>\n

Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow\u2019s work has been honored by the Pro Football Writers Association, the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He\u2019s earned six APSE Top 10 distinctions for his coverage on a variety of topics, from billion-dollar stadium renovations to the small moments of triumph that helped a Panthers kicker defy the steepest odds in sports. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22.
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