Maurice Watson Explained

Maurice Watson
Position:Point guard
Height Ft:5
Height In:11
Weight Lb:175
League:TBL
Team:Gaziantep Basketbol
Number:3
Birth Date:8 March 1993
Birth Place:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality:American
High School:Boys' Latin
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
College:
Draft Year:2017
Career Start:2018
Years1:2018–2019
Team1:ZZ Leiden
Years2:2019–2020
Team2:Forlì 2.015
Years3:2020–2021
Team3:Budo Gemlik
Years4:2021
Team4:Twarde Pierniki Toruń
Years5:2021–2022
Team5:Maccabi Rishon LeZion
Years6:2022
Team6:Antwerp Giants
Years7:2022–2023
Team7:CSO Voluntari
Years8:2023–present
Team8:Gaziantep Basketbol
Highlights:

Maurice "Mo" Watson Jr. (born March 8, 1993) is an American basketball player for Gaziantep Basketbol of the Turkish Basketball First League (TBL). Standing at 5inchesft11inchesin (ftin), Watson Jr. plays as point guard. He played college basketball for both Boston University and Creighton.

High school career

Watson played for Boys' Latin of Philadelphia Charter School from 2008-2012, where he was a four-year starter. He led the team to the Philadelphia Public League title game in his senior year, and to a semi-final loss in the Pennsylvania 4A Boys Basketball Tournament. He remains the all-time scoring leader at Boys’ Latin, as he passed Wilt Chamberlain to post a career total of 2,356 points, second in Philadelphia Public League history. In addition to many local honors, he was a Parade All-American.

College career

Watson Jr. played for Boston University in his first college season, 2012–2013. Here, he averaged 11.2 points, 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game in his freshman season. In 2014, he transferred to Creighton where he had a redshirt season. In his second season with Creighton, Watson Jr. averaged 14.1 points and 6.5 assists. In the 2016–2017 season, Watson Jr. suffered from a torn ACL which kept him out for the remainder of the season after playing just 19 games.

College statistics

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2012–13| style="text-align:left;"| Boston University| 30 || 30 || 29.5 || .463 || .329 || .750 || 3.3 || 5.4 || 1.7 || 0 || 11.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2013–14| style="text-align:left;"| Boston University| 35 || 33 || 31.2 || .495 || .337 || .628 || 3.6 || 7.1 || 2.1 || 0 || 13.3|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2015–16| style="text-align:left;"| Creighton| 35 || 34 || 31.4 || .475 || .297 || .714 || 3.4 || 6.5 || 1 || 0 || 14.1|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2016–17| style="text-align:left;"| Creighton| 19 || 19 || 29.9 || .508 || .469 || .692 || 2.6 || 8.5 || 1.5 || 0 || 12.9|- class="sortbottom"| colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| Career[1] [2] | 119 || 116 || 30.6 || .484 || .341 || .698 || 3.3 || 6.7 || 1.6 || 0 || 12.9

Professional career

On July 27, 2018, Watson Jr. signed his first professional contract with ZZ Leiden of the Dutch Basketball League (DBL).[3] On November 10, Watson scored a DBL season-high 22 points in a 82–87 loss to Landstede.[4] On March 31, Watson won the NBB Cup with Leiden.[5] He scored 17 points in the cup final. Watson finished the season as league leader in assists and was subsequently named a member of the All-DBL Team.

On July 20, 2019, Watson signed with Forlì 2.015 of the Italian Serie A2 Basket.[6]

Watson spent the 2020-21 season in Turkey with Budo Gemlik and averaged 19.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

On August 7, 2021, he signed with Twarde Pierniki Toruń of the Polish Basketball League.[7] In 12 games, Watson averaged 17.6 points, 10.9 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.

On November 29, 2021, he signed with Maccabi Rishon LeZion of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.[8] On April 5, 2022, he was released from the team, due to "behavior that does not suit the club's values".[9]

On July 8, 2022, he has signed with Telent Antwerp Giants of the BNXT League.[10]

On July 23, 2023, he signed with Gaziantep Basketbol of the Turkish Basketball First League (TBL).[11]

Personal life

In February 2017, Watson was accused of sexual assault by a 19-year-old female student. The charges against him were dropped in September after his accuser's credibility was suspect, but he pled no contest to a different assault charge.[12]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Maurice Watson Jr. of Creighton Bluejays suffered torn ACL . Espn.com.au . 2017-01-18 . 2018-08-01.
  2. Web site: Mo Watson Player Profile . Basketball.realgm.com . 2018-08-01.
  3. Web site: Maurice Watson Jr. nieuwe spelmaker . nl . Eredivisiebasketballleiden.nl . 2018-08-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190402111652/https://www.eredivisiebasketballleiden.nl/nieuws/nieuwsoverzicht/nieuwsbericht/?bericht=3190 . 2019-04-02 . dead .
  4. Web site: Landstede Basketbal wint topper. basketballleague.nl. 11 December 2018.
  5. Web site: Basketballers ZZ Leiden veroveren nationale beker. nos.nl. March 31, 2019 . 1 April 2019.
  6. News: Maurice Watson signs with Pallacanestro Forlì. Sportando. 20 July 2019.
  7. Web site: Maurice Watson (ex Gemlik) signs at Twarde Pierniki . Eurobasket . August 8, 2021 . August 7, 2021.
  8. Web site: Dahan . Netanel . M.Rishon inks Maurice Watson, ex Twarde Pierniki . Eurobasket . November 29, 2021 . November 29, 2021.
  9. Web site: "Maurice Watson been cut from Maccabi Rishon Letzion, and answered:"at last!". April 5, 2022. sport5.co.il. he. August 17, 2022.
  10. Web site: Maurice "Mo" Williams naar Telenet Giants Antwerp. July 8, 2022. nieuwsblad.be. nl. August 17, 2022.
  11. Web site: Watson rakip olarak double double yaptığı Gaziantep'te. July 23, 2023. basketfaul. tr. July 24, 2023.
  12. News: Cooper . Todd . Prosecutors drop rape charge against Maurice Watson; ex-Creighton player pleads no contest to different assault charge . August 5, 2018 . . September 25, 2017.