NEWS

February 25,2005


For Immediate Release

14th Annual Watkins Award Winner Announced at Banquet in Charlotte, NC

The annual winner of the Watkins Award was announced this past weekend at the Adams Mark Hotel in Charlotte, NC. The announcement was the culmination of the weekend’s activities which included a Teen Summit where the Watkins Candidates and Alumni gave advice to Junior and Senior High School students about various topics such as the importance of success in school.  The announcement was made during  the Awards Presentation Banquet. In attendance were Watkins Alumni including Darnell Dinkins- Baltimore Ravens, Deryck Toles - Indianapolis Colts, Nick Maddox – Charlotte Panthers, 2004Winner Darius Walker - Notre Dame, 2003 Winner Sam Cheatham -Northwestern, 2002 Winner Marcus McCutcheon - Stanford and  2002 finalist Jonathan Hubbard. The keynote speaker was Sportscaster and 16-year NFL veteran Eugene Robinson. Robinson played in three Super Bowls, three Pro Bowls and is ranked 10th all time in the NFL with 57 interceptions.

The winner of the 14th Annual Watkins Award was Ekom-Abassi Udofia of Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. Udofia has a high school GPA of 4.2, played defensive tackle and is a highly sought after recruit. The remainder of this year’s “Elite Five” include:  Robert Kibble of Westfield High School in Houston Texas with a 3.8 GPA, committed to UCLA; Mohamed Massaquoi of Independence High School of Charlotte, North Carolina, a highly recruited student athlete with a 3.75 GPA, committed to the University of Georgia; Shawn Oatis of Chino High School in Chino California, one of the country’s top Strong Safeties with a GPA of 4.1, committed to UCLA as well; and Vincent Oghobaase of Hastings High School of  Houston, Texas, one of the top defensive tackles in the nation with a high school GPA of 3.96. Oghobaase graduated from high school in December and he is already attending Duke University.

Since 1992, the award has become the most prestigious award for African American High School Males and is known as the  "Premiere African-American Male Scholar Athlete Award". The National Alliance of African American Athletes was founded in 1989.  The organization's mission is to empower African American males through athletics, education and public programs.

To honor the accomplishments of our "Elite Five" a individual dinner is held in the home city of each finalist.

Here is the Tentative 2005 Schedule:

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14thWatkins Award  Event Photo Gallery