&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Bobby_Watson_basketball_coach.jpeg) Watson in 1977 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 8, 1942 |
| Died | December 13, 1977 (aged 35) Evansville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Bethel Park (Bethel Park, Pennsylvania) |
| College | VMI (1961–1964) |
| NBA draft | 1964: undrafted |
| Coaching career | 1964–1977 |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1964–1965 | Fleming HS |
| 1967–1968; 1969–1971 | Xavier (assistant) |
| 1971–1973 | Ferrum |
| 1973–1974 | Wake Forest (assistant) |
| 1974–1977 | Oral Roberts (assistant) |
| 1977 | Evansville |
| Career coaching record | |
| College | 1–3 (.250) |
Robert Lee Watson (August 8, 1942 – December 13, 1977) was an American basketball coach. He was in his first season as a head coach for the Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team when he and his team were killed in the 1977 Air Indiana Flight 216 crash.
Watson was a college basketball player for the VMI Keydets and began his coaching career at a Virginia high school. His early coaching career was interrupted by two stints in the Vietnam War but he returned as an assistant coach for the Xavier Musketeers. Watson first came to prominence as the head coach for the Ferrum Panthers from 1971 to 1973. He worked as an assistant coach for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. Watson was hired as the head coach of the Purple Aces in 1977 for their first season as a member of NCAA Division I competition and had amassed a 1–3 record at the time of his death.