Jack R. Watkins Jr. is in his 34th season at the Missouri Valley, having served in media services, advertising/marketing, television and championship administration capacities during his tenure.
Watkins, 62, has served as tournament manager for the State Farm MVC Men’s Basketball Tournament in St. Louis since 2013, and completed a four-year stint as the staff liaison for the sport of baseball, serving as director of the postseason tournament, in 2016.
In 2023, he was appointed the director of the Conference’s in-house television advertising and postseason tournament sponsorship sales staff. He also assists with promotional campaigns for league championships.
As the staff contact for ESPN and CBS Sports, he coordinates contract negotiation, production, hiring on-air talent and clearances for the MVC Television Network on various linear production partners and digital distribution on ESPN+.
As the Conference liaison for The Valley on ESPN -- the league’s co-branded digital network involving productions for ESPN+ -- he coordinated the infrastructure build-out on each campus and the subsequent launch of institutional production units which has produced more than 7,200 exclusive live events since its launch in 2015-16.
During his tenure at The Valley, he has been a media coordinator for the 1993, 1998 and 1999 NCAA Men’s Basketball Division I Midwest Regionals and the 2002 NCAA First and Second Rounds in St. Louis, and served as a television time-out coordinator a total of 13 times for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Division I Championship and once for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Division I Championship.
Watkins has also been tournament manager for four NCAA Men’s Basketball Division I Championship events -- 2013 Second and Third Rounds in Kansas City, 2014 Second and Third Rounds in St. Louis, 2016 First and Second Rounds in St. Louis and 2019 Midwest Regional in Kansas City. He was also scheduled to handle tournament manager responsibilities for the 2020 First and Second Rounds in St. Louis prior to its cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This spring, Watkins will serve as tournament manager for the 2026 NCAA First/Second Rounds at Enterprise Center in St. Louis on March 20 and 22, marking the 15th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship event on which he has served in a leadership role.
During his 11 years as the MVC men’s basketball publicity contact, Watkins earned “Best in the Nation” recognition for his 1997, 2000 and 2002 MVC hoops guides from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) conference publications committee, and the 2001 and 2003 MVC yearbooks earned “Best in the Nation” for their cover design.
A native of Sikeston, Mo., he became the 14th recipient of the Katha Quinn Award -- presented for service to sportswriters who cover college basketball -- from the 800-member United States Basketball Writers Association in April 2003.
On November 14, 2021, Watkins was enshrined into the State of Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, joining former MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin and former Missouri Valley Football Conference Commissioner Patty Viverito as Valley staffers who have been so recognized.
A 1985 University of Missouri-Columbia journalism graduate, he served assistant sports information director at Kansas State University during the 1986-87 school year, coordinating media services for the sports of volleyball, men’s basketball and baseball.
From 1988 to 1992, he was assistant sports information director at the University of Missouri, handling publicity for the sports of volleyball, wrestling, men’s basketball, women’s gymnastics and baseball. While at Missouri, he received 10 publications awards from CoSIDA and served as media coordinator for five Big Eight Conference championship events and an NCAA Gymnastics Regional in 1992.
A member of the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA), Watkins and his wife Genny live in Chesterfield, Mo., and are the parents of the late Katherine I. Watkins.