Dale and Josh Watts are almost like two different sides of the same coin.

The father and son duo are both championship-winning basketball coaches and horse trainers.

When their teams are playing against each other, as was the case last Friday night when Dale and Columbia Academy were visiting his son Josh and Brookhaven Academy for a MAIS District 3-5A matchup, you can hear how similar they sound as they shout encouragement to their teams.

Their coaching philosophies mirror each other, as do their offensive sets.

They’re close, the type of close that comes with being in business together, as their days start off training Tennessee walking horses together at the family stable in Summit. In the afternoons, Dale heads southeast for Columbia and practice, while Josh travels north to Brookhaven Academy to work out his team.

On Friday, they both reflected on the emotions that come with their teams facing each other, and they mirrored each other in their sentiment.

“I hate it,” said Dale, prior to tipoff. “We aren’t going to be in the same classification next year and other than us possibly playing them in a tournament game in the playoffs, this will be it for me and Josh playing each other and I’m glad for that.”

After the Brookhaven Academy Cougars held on for a 59-48 win over the Columbia Academy Cougars, Josh echoed what his daddy had said, almost to the letter.

“I hate it,” said Josh, as he stood near the basket on the west end of John R. Gray Gymnasium. “It’s hard on both of us and I’m ready for it to be over with.”

Dale Watts is an institution at Brookhaven Academy. He won seven boys’ basketball state titles in a span of eight years. The banners that ring the top of the gym are reminders of that success.

After 19 seasons, Dale Watts left Brookhaven to take the head coaching job at Columbia Academy, his alma mater, in 2013.

BA didn’t hire Josh to replace him right away, but when the job came open in 2014, Josh Watts took on the responsibility of leading his alma mater, a place where basketball has always been a beloved sport.

Josh Watts has created his own legacy, winning back-to-back MAIS state championships in 2018-2019.

When BA and Columbia first played each other after Josh took the job, it was an event filled with pomp and circumstance. Some may still have a t-shirt from that game hanging in their closet that commemorated what was dubbed the “The Watts War.”

I’ll write more about it later this week, but in the new MAIS configuration, Brookhaven Academy will be in the 4A class, which will be composed of the 20 largest schools in the association.

Columbia Academy, which is the smallest school in its current 5A class, will drop down to the new 3A ranks in 2025-2027.

With no more mandatory, twice-year meetings between the schools in district competition, the pair plan to set an armistice in The Watts War by not scheduling each other in non-district games going forward.

Dale Watts is in year number 50 of being a high school basketball coach, as his first job was at Centreville Academy in 1975. Since then, he’s had stops at Parklane Academy, Brookhaven Academy, and now Columbia Academy.

He’s made a huge impact on an untold number of boys that he helped mold into men.

I count myself lucky to be among that number.

He’s still hard on his teams, demanding their best. On Friday, he was all over one of his guys from Columbia. You could hear him barking across the gym that he wanted the player to, “do your job.”

Still, as is only natural, his growl has become a little less fierce over these last 50 years. He can see the finish line of his career in the not-too-distant future.

He still loves to teach the game and to coach the game and to strategize. He just doesn’t want to do that against his oldest son anymore.

I’m sure his wife Lucy and Josh’s wife Olivia are ready for the family rivalry to end in a similar way to their husbands.

The gym was nearly cleaned up on Friday by the time that Dale came out of the Columbia dressing room. He stopped to chat for a minute as he rearranged the scorebook, bag of balls, and sports coat he was carrying to his vehicle.

We talked about how his boys played, and how Josh’s team played better.

He’s a man that hates losing, but even in defeat, he looked a little lighter in his shoulders as he walked out of the gym. It was almost like a physical weight had been lifted, to know that his days of facing Josh were almost over.

“Good job tonight, Coach Watts,” he yelled across the court to his son, as he exited the gym.

“Thanks, Dad,” Josh called back. His countenance too looked a little fairer after what they both hope will be the final battle of The Watts War.

 

Cliff Furr writes about sports for The Daily Leader.