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JJ Watt -- Basketball Star? We've got the video to prove it

07/28/2021, 2:00pm CDT
By Travis Wilson

J.J. Watt is best known as a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and humanitarian who moved from the Houston Texans to the Arizona Cardinals this season. The former Wisconsin All-American's story is well-documented, as he attended Pewaukee High School before going off to Central Michigan, spending one season as a tight end before transferring back to walk-on at Wisconsin. He grew into a dominant defensive lineman and was a First Round NFL Draft Pick, and the rest is history.

While he was a standout football player in high school, earning WFCA All-State recognition as a tight end and Honorable Mention All-State as a defensive end, Watt was always a multi-sport athlete. Growing up he played club hockey and captured the 2007 WIAA Shot Put state title in Division 2. But he also played high school basketball, and that's where we pick things up today.

After many years stored away in the WSN archives, we've been able to digitize old highlight tape (yes, it was recorded on tape) of a February 2nd, 2007 boys basketball game between Pewaukee and New Berlin Eisenhower.

Eisenhower won a conference championship that year and dropped just one league game...that night at Pewaukee. J.J. Watt had a team-high 25 points to help lift the Pirates to a 56-52 win over Eisenhower, who featured 6'11" center Matt Dorlack, who played four years of Division 1 basketball at Eastern Illinois.

WSN staff filmed the game and we have edited it to a five-minute highlight of J.J.'s best stuff. You can also view the video directly on YouTube here.


About the Author

Travis Wilson serves as the WisSports.net General Manager, Football Editor, and contributing writer for other parts of the site. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisWSN.

Tag(s): Video  Basketball - Boys  News Archive  BBB News  News  Travis Wilson