Roar Sign 6'10" Star Forward

The 4 Bears Roar, a professional basketball team in the TBL announced the official signing of forward Brandon Watkins for the 2026 TBL season.

Watkins, 31, joins the Roar for their inaugural season after an impressive performance at the 2026 Roar Preseason Training Camp in Las Vegas. The 6’10” forward was a late off-season invite to camp, but well known to some Roar players. In 2025, Watkins was a member of the Wenatchee Bighorns (TBL) with current Roar teammate Tavin Cummings. Watkins, while a member of the Wichita SkyKings (TBL) also competed against fellow Roar teammate DeShawn Munson.

A graduate of the University of West Virginia, the Georgia native played over 100 NCAA Division I games for the Mountaineers. Following his collegiate career, Watkins had a brief stint in Poland before finishing the season in Cyprus. He would play in the very competitive professional basketball league in Germany for the next two season. The 2018-2019 season would be an all-star year for the big man averaging 17.5 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game. Watkins would then take his game to Mexico before COVID shut down his season.

In 2022, Watkins would join Team AboutBillions in the $1,000,000 TBT tournament. The team would be eliminated in the first round with Watkins scoring 10 points and 5 rebounds in just 18 minutes. In 2023, he would join the expansion Wichita SkyKings (TBL) averaging 11.7 points and 7.0 rebounds. Watkins would go overseas in 2024 to Azerbaijan. In 2025, Watkins joined the Wenatchee Bighorns (TBL) where he averaged 15.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game as the starting power forward.

“We knew what was on paper,” said Ward Hilger, Director of Operations for the Roar. “But when he showed up to camp, everyone was struggling to keep up with his pace.”

Watkins joins the Roar in North Dakota next week to begin practices for the first game of the 2026 TBL season, as the Roar travel to Montana to take on the defending TBL Western Conference champions, the Great Falls Electric on Sunday, March 1st. Watch the first inaugural game of the Roar on TBLTV or follow updates on social media (@4BearsRoar) on Facebook, X, and Instagram.