By: Ethan Fuller<\/p>\n
Energy radiates from Ethan Brittain-Watts. It erupts from his body when he roars from the sidelines. It ignites the point guard’s burst as he drives to the rim and powers through contact. It bounces from himself to his teammates via chest bumps, handshakes, and of course, a basketball.<\/p>\n
Throughout a lifetime of competition, Brittain-Watts has channeled that energy into an insatiable hunger, using it to propel him through the basketball ranks and take him from the mecca of Indiana to Boston University. Now a freshman in a new city, Brittain-Watts has launched himself into the life of a college student-athlete while earning a prominent rotational role for the Terriers. The key to success has always been the same resolute focus.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s a kill-or-be-killed mentality,” he says. “You gotta go out there and go at it, you know.”<\/p>\n
“Life\u2019s not gonna give anything to you, so you gotta go out and take it. I try to take that same mentality to the basketball court. Whether it\u2019s offensively, defensively — I just try to give it all I can.”<\/p>\n
Brittain-Watts exemplifies the fiery, competitive culture that is Indiana basketball. The state is loaded with NBA talent, Division I commits, and “dogs” that do whatever it takes to win at a high level.<\/p>\n
“We grow basketball here in Indiana,” he says. “That\u2019s the big saying, and I take a lot of pride in it.”<\/p>\n
His mother, Michelle Brittain-Watts, is the principal at Bloomington High School North and once coached basketball at Pike High School during the days of Jeff and Marquis Teague. His father, Mark Watts, is a behavior specialist who works at Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis. When Ethan Brittain-Watts and Culver Academies routed Crispus Attucks in his senior season, the elder Watts heard the smack talk for hours.<\/p>\n
“Basketball is crazy here; people don\u2019t understand unless you live it,” his mom adds. “It\u2019s just amazing.”<\/p>\n
Brittain-Watts has become, as she puts it, “part of the culture he’s grown up in.” His first organized basketball experiences came by age three. He grew up shooting with and playing for the Teague brothers, as well as fellow NBA veteran George Hill. AAU leagues came into the picture early in elementary school.<\/p>\n
As Brittain-Watts showed promise, and his drive to compete at a high level became evident, his parents explained that if he was willing to put in the work, they would back his aspirations the whole way.<\/p>\n
“When he wanted to really focus on basketball,” his mom says, “we told him: ‘If this is what you want to do, there\u2019s no turning back. Once we start something, we don\u2019t quit. We finish what we started. And if this is what you want to do, and if this is where you see yourself playing in college, then we will put all of the resources we have behind you to ensure that you reach whatever level you can.’”<\/p>\n
The next levels for Brittain-Watts became Culver Academies and Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL). It took a while for Brittain-Watts and his family to find the right program that balanced player development with potential exposure, but his time with Indy Heat helped Brittain-Watts flash his competitive nature for scouts. One of them was Walt Corbean — assistant coach at Boston University.<\/p>\n
“When you see him in those different environments, whether it be at the high school level or in the AAU circuit, you definitely see how competitive of a young man he is,” Corbean says.<\/p>\n
High school proved instrumental in Brittain-Watts’ growth as both a player and person. Culver Academies, a small boarding school about two hours from his home in Indianapolis, is what the freshman believes prepared him for the academic standards at BU and the adjustment to the life of a college athlete.<\/p>\n
\nWATCH: In his final HS game ever, @CMABasketball<\/a> senior Ethan Brittain-Watts (@ethan_watts13<\/a>) put on an ABSOLUTE SHOW! <\/p>\n
He scored a game-high 23 points in the state championship and left it all on the line in his last game as an Eagle. pic.twitter.com\/k9027tYfmV<\/a><\/p>\n
— Mark Skol, Jr. (@markskoljr_WNDU) March 24, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n