Penn State men’s basketball senior forward Mike Watkins was charged with DUI after State College police pulled him over for speeding Friday morning.
The Nittany Lions’ leading rebounder, shot blocker and third leading scorer was suspended for a violation of team rules and did not play Saturday in the team’s loss to Northwestern.
Watkins was traveling at a high rate of speed about 1:45 a.m. Friday along East College Avenue and was stopped by State College police, a borough police officer wrote in an affidavit of probable cause filed Thursday.
Watkins’ breath smelled of alcohol and his eyes were bloodshot and watery, police wrote.
He initially denied consuming alcohol, but later said he had a Long Island iced tea about two hours before he was stopped, police wrote.
Watkins failed field sobriety tests and refused a blood test at Mount Nittany Medical Center. A preliminary breath test was positive for alcohol, police wrote.
Watkins was charged with one misdemeanor count of DUI and two traffic citations. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 15.
A defense lawyer for Watkins, who was charged in June 2018 with possession of a weed grinder and pleaded guilty in September 2018 to one summary count of disorderly conduct, was not listed on a court document.
“We are aware of the situation involving Mike Watkins,” Penn State athletics wrote Thursday in an emailed statement. “Everyone in our program must meet the standards and expectations we have established for Penn State athletics. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not have any further comment at this time.”
Watkins has long had support from coach Patrick Chambers, who said in a February interview with the Big Ten Network that he wants to “save a life” and ensure Watkins has the tools to handle any situation.
“Mike is day-to-day,” Chambers said. “Most days, he’s really good. And then there’s days where he’s not his best version of himself because of his condition.”
Watkins was forthcoming about his struggles with mental health and legal issues in the interview, which served as a follow up to a blog posted on his behalf in October 2018.
The 24-year-old documented the effects bipolar disorder and depression had on him as he grew up in southwest Philadelphia and transitioned to Happy Valley.
“To have that type of support, it was comforting. It was like, I knew I had to make a change, but nobody changes overnight,” Watkins said in the Big Ten Network interview. “I just had to keep chipping at it, keep working at it and then it gradually got better.”
The Nittany Lions were scheduled to play the Indiana Hoosiers in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, but the tournament was canceled Thursday afternoon amid concerns about the coronavirus.
Penn State was also set to be a part of March Madness for the first time since 2011, but the NCAA Tournament — as well as all remaining winter and spring championships — were canceled Thursday, the NCAA announced.
“This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities,” the NCAA said in a statement.
Centre Daily Times reporter Jon Sauber contributed to this article.
Bret Pallotto primarily reports on courts and crime for the Centre Daily Times. He was raised in Mifflin County and graduated from Lock Haven University.