Watts-Brown grew up in Hanford, California and attended Hanford High School. He was named the West Yosemite League Player of the Year in football and basketball during his senior year.[2] Watts-Brown committed to play college baseball at Texas Tech, but suffered a shoulder injury and ultimately enrolled at Long Beach State.[3]
Watts-Brown began his college baseball career at Long Beach State and redshirted his true freshman season while recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum.[4] After the season, he played summer collegiate baseball for the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL).[5] Watts was a member of Long Beach State's starting rotation as a redshirt freshman and pitched a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts against UC-Riverside on May 8, 2022.[6] Watts-Brown finished the season with a 4-4 record and an 3.68 ERA and 111 strikeouts.[7]