David Watkins enters his first season with the Radford men's basketball program after a historic two-year run as an assistant coach at Daytona State College, where he specialized as the Falcons' defensive coordinator. Watkins built one of the top defensive units in the country, guiding Daytona State to back-to-back top five national rankings in forced turnovers. The Falcons averaged 17.7 turnovers forced per game during the 2023–24 season and improved to 18.3 per game in 2024–25. Over that two-year span, Daytona State compiled a 56–8 record overall, tying the school record for wins in consecutive seasons with 28 victories each year. The Falcons also captured back-to-back Citrus Conference Championships and for the first time in program history, made consecutive appearances in the NJCAA National Tournament. In Watkins' final season, the team advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.
Under his tutelage and player development, the Falcons produced two NJCAA All-Americans, two Conference Players of the Year and eight First Team All-Conference Players, all of whom signed with NCAA Division I programs: Jaylin Payne (Longwood), Dylan Diaz (Louisiana Monroe), Eddie Placer (Wagner), Breylin Garcia (USC Upstate), Victor Panov (Drexel), Kylin Green (Utah Valley), Josue Grullon (UT Martin, Citrus Conference Player of the year, Second Team All-American) and Isaiah Dorecus (Milwaukee, Citrus Conference Player of the Year, First Team All-American).
Prior to his time at Daytona State, Watkins served as a graduate assistant at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) for two seasons under head coach Mike Rhoades. During his time at VCU, Watkins helped the Rams capture the 2023 Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament championship, which led to the VCU's 2023 NCAA Tournament appearance. The Rams posted a 27-8 mark overall, which was the most wins for the program since the 2012-13 campaign. Previously, in the 2021-22 season, he helped VCU to the second round of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). Watkins was vital in the development of the Rams' post players during his time with the program, working closely with forwards Jalen Deloach and Brandon Johns Jr., both of whom earned All-Atlantic 10 Third Team honors, respectively.
Before joining the VCU staff, Watkins had a successful collegiate basketball career at the University of New Hampshire where he was a part of the all-time winningest team in New Hampshire history in 2016-17. He served as the captain in his final season.Â
A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Watkins earned his master's degree in sport leadership in 2023 from VCU and a bachelor's degree in sport studies with a minor in business administration from the University of New Hampshire in 2019.
