Watkins set to return for senior season

Penn State forward Mike Watkins will be back for a fifth and final season of eligibility with the Nittany Lions next season, the program announced Monday evening.

After serving a five-game suspension to open the Nittany Lions' 2018-19 campaign, Watkins gradually worked his way up to speed through the course of the year, battling a return from not only a knee injury that cut short his redshirt sophomore season but also the offseason revelation of a bipolar disorder diagnosis.

For the season, Watkins averaged 7.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game, starting 14 times. Against conference-only competition, his numbers were good enough to earn an 11th place spot in rebounding (7.1) and sixth in blocked shots (1.7 per game) while finishing third in made field goal percentage (57.7)

Watkins' decision clears up the first of two situations for Nittany Lions exploring their potential professional futures this offseason, the second being first-team All-Big Ten forward Lamar Stevens.

Stevens announced in April his intention to go through the process leading up to the NBA Draft in June while maintaining his eligibility to potentially return to Penn State for his fourth and final season, should he choose not to go pro.