Maurice Watson Jr. (#10 | 5-10 | 170 | G | Jr.)
The straw that stirs drink for the Creighton Bluejays.
The 2015-16 season will go as far as Maurice Watson Jr can take it, and he wouldn’t want it any other way. Watson embraces the challenge of leading Creighton’s turnaround from a disappointing 14-19 record last season. He’s 5-feet, 10-inches, and 170 pounds of pure contagious energy on the court, on the sidelines, and in the huddles. Once Creighton began their summer workouts in advance of their overseas trip to Italy, there was little doubt who’s lead the players were going to follow. He is a vocal presence, but he also sets the example with his play on the floor.
Despite his less than intimidating build, the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native has no fear driving into the lane and scoring against everyone from guards with comparable size or seven-footers who are waiting to block his shot and give him a hard foul. That is evidenced by his career field goal percentage of 48.2% on 652 shots in his two-year stint at Boston University before he transferred to Creighton.
“Yeah, but now he’s playing with the big boys in the Big East.”
Right, well, while it’s a small sample size, it’s still a sample. In his two seasons at Boston he played four teams from that are either from major conferences, or would be considered among college basketball’s top programs in Rutgers, Connecticut, Maryland, and Illinois. In those four contests, he shot an even 45.0% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc while averaging 12.3 points, 8.0 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. As you’ll notice below, those numbers are right in line with his career averages over the course of his 65-game career at Boston, and, in the case of his assists, it’s actually nearly two full helpers above his career mark.
When it comes time to put on his blue and white No. 10 uniform and square off with the Kris Dunn’s, Ryan Arcidiacono’s, Jalen Brunson’s, and Billy Garrett Jr.’s of the Big East basketball world, it won’t be a task that he isn’t physically or mentally prepared to handle.
Check out this Maurice Watson Jr. photo gallery!
Boston University (2012-14)
2012-13 (30 games): .463 FG | .329 3FG | .750 FT | 11.2 ppg | 3.3 rpg | 5.4 apg | 1.7 spg | 1.8 ast:to
2013-14 (35 games): .495 FG | .337 3FG | .628 FT | 13.3 ppg | 3.6 rpg | 7.1 apg | 2.1 spg | 2.5 ast:to
Career (65 games): .482 FG | .333 3FG | .684 FT | 12.3 ppg | 3.5 rpg | 6.3 apg | 1.9 spg | 2.1 ast:to
Head Coach Greg McDermott on Watson:
“He’s had a good camp. I’ve been pleased with his progress. Obviously we’re asking a lot out of him. He’s on the floor a lot, and he’s going to need to be for us to go where we want to go with this team. He was great against Missouri; I think he had 10 assists, no turnovers, and it’s that type of play that we really need from him.”
5-on-5 with Maurice Watson Jr.
Q: Obviously it’s been a long time since you’ve played in a game that counted. How do you feel knowing that it’s now little over a week away?
A: “I’m excited. I’m having a hard time sleeping already, and it’s only Tuesday. I’m just ready to go out there and get those first game jitters over. While I’m not worried about it, it’s my first time playing in front of the fans, and this amount of fans before. I’m just excited to finally be at the place I worked so hard to get to.”
Q: Your situation is different, because you weren’t sitting out for developmental purposes. How difficult was that year away, and what sort of things did you work on to make sure that it wasn’t a year where you didn’t get any better and just wasted time?
A: “One of the things that my dad always instilled in me when I was younger is to never settle, never be content, and no matter what you can always get better. I knew during the year off I wasn’t playing, while I knew I could compete at the Big East level, I wanted to make sure that when I come in I didn’t just compete, but I would dominate. So I started to work on things that NBA scouts or critics say that I need to work on. I don’t get mad when I see bad ratings. Of course there are people saying what I can’t do, that just makes me go to the gym and work on those things. Basically I just worked on everything that I need to do to transform myself into a next level player. Hopefully those skills can transfer over, and I can just be whatever my team needs me to be.”
Q: Where does your attitude come from, that fearlessness, that confidence, because despite not playing a game at Creighton yet, you haven’t been shy about telling anyone who will listen what you intend to do?
A: “At the end of the day if you don’t believe in yourself, and you don’t have confidence in yourself, then it won’t matter. Having the whole country tell us that we’re not going to be good again, it doesn’t sit well, because of the fact that I know how much work me and my teammates are putting in. It’s not like we’re just out here every day coming to practice, then leaving. We’re sore, we’re hurt, and we still come in and get up extra shots or watch film. We’re doing what we need to do to be the best prepared team, individually, and as a unit. I’m not going to pull any punches. This is the way that my teammates know that I trust in them. I’m out there, and I know what I’m going to do, but at the end of the day I’ve never played with any of these guys in a game before up until Missouri for the scrimmage, so we still have to get to know each other. We still have to get game-situated together, but if they know that I have the ultimate confidence in them, and I’m willing to go out there and tell the world that we’re going to do something, then it lets them know that if he believes us, and Coach believes in us, there is nothing that we can’t do.”
Q: What motivates you more, positive reinforcement or are you the kind of guy who looks for the people who are doubting you and what you can do in this conference against this kind of competition?
A: “At first I don’t like seeing the articles that I’m not one of the top 100 players in college basketball, but I haven’t played in a year. But I love seeing the negative stuff. I have people telling me all day how good I’m doing, and how much they watch film of me. I don’t need to hear that anymore. I know that does not faze me, because people will build you up all day, and then knock you down. The only thing that really matters in my mind and my heart is what everybody in blue thinks, and that includes the 18,000 fans and everybody who supports us. I don’t care about people who are going to doubt us and doubt me, personally, because I’m out here for my guys anyway. In order for me to reach where I want to go the fastest, which is the NBA, I need to win, and I can’t do anything without my guys.
I’m an assist guy; I don’t get them if my guys don’t make shots. I don’t get my open shots and my opportunities if the defense doesn’t have to lock in on my teammates who are making shots. At the end of the day, I need them before I can get myself going, and that’s why I let them know that I’m coming to them first regardless. I’ll give a shot for me for you anytime, because in the last five minutes we’re going to need guys to have confidence at the end, and to be ready for any pass that I’m going to give them.”
Q: You’ve got two years left here at Creighton. When it’s all over, what will you have hoped to accomplish in your time as a Bluejay?
A: “I want to be known as a guy who cared about his teammates, and cared about the program first, and a guy who was more concerned with being a leader and made sure everybody else was in the right spots before I’m in the right spot. I also want to bring some wins. When they say, ‘you know what, this program turned back around this year,’ I want to be on that team. In these two years I will have hoped to leave a legacy. I know I haven’t been here for four years, but having spent almost three years here when I graduate, it will be worth saying that I put some time in here, and I have ties here. I want to have a successful career and reach my goals, and the peak of my game, and the peak of my opportunity from here. I believe that with this team, and the coaching staff, and Coach Mac, that the sky is the limit.”