THE FLATS – Georgia Tech track and field’s John Watkins was awarded the 2025 Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, Athletes for a Better World announced last week. The award is presented to athletes who best display character, teamwork, and citizenship, and honorees are established as athletes of excellence both on and off the field and role models in their community, both as performers and people.
Watkins serves on the Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) with a focus on Diversity/Mental Health Committee & Campus Engagement Committee and is also a member of the ACC Cross Country and Track & Field Student Advisory Group. Additionally, the fifth-year senior is a founding board member of the Black Student-Athlete Association and served as vice president of Omega Psi Phi for three semesters, representing the chapter as a delegate on the district and international level.
Watkins graduated in December 2024 with a BS in electrical engineering, earning a 3.5 GPA. He plans to return to Georgia Tech and pursue a masters degree in management.
The Hoover, Ala., native currently holds the second-best triple jump mark (15.67m) in the ACC for the 2025 outdoor season and is set to compete at the ACC Outdoor Championships May 15-17.
During his five seasons at Tech, Watkins’s achievements include:
- Five-time All-ACC team honoree
- Five-time All-ACC Academic Team honoree
- Three-time East Region qualifier
- ACC Silver Medalist – 2025 – triple jump
- Sits fifth in program history in the indoor triple jump
- Three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree
- Named the 2023 Peach of an Athlete Role Model
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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