Maurice Watson

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 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m), Watson Jr. plays as point guard. He played college basketball for both Boston University and Creighton.

Maurice Watson
Gaziantep Basketbol
PositionPoint guard
LeagueTBL
Personal information
Born (1993-03-08) March 8, 1993
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolBoys' Latin
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
College
NBA draft2017: undrafted
Playing career2018–present
Career history
2018–2019ZZ Leiden
2019–2020Forlì 2.015
2020–2021Budo Gemlik
2021Twarde Pierniki Toruń
2021–2022Maccabi Rishon LeZion
2022Antwerp Giants
2022–2023CSO Voluntari
2023–presentGaziantep Basketbol
Career highlights and awards

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.[1]

College statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 Boston University 303029.5.463.329.7503.35.41.7011.2
2013–14 Boston University 353331.2.495.337.6283.67.12.1013.3
2015–16 Creighton 353431.4.475.297.7143.46.51014.1
2016–17 Creighton 191929.9.508.469.6922.68.51.5012.9
Career[1][2] 11911630.6.484.341.6983.36.71.6012.9

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]

References
  1. "Maurice Watson Jr. of Creighton Bluejays suffered torn ACL". Espn.com.au. January 18, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  2. "Mo Watson Player Profile". Basketball.realgm.com. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  3. "Maurice Watson Jr. nieuwe spelmaker" (in Dutch). Eredivisiebasketballleiden.nl. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  4. "Landstede Basketbal wint topper". basketballleague.nl. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  5. "Basketballers ZZ Leiden veroveren nationale beker". nos.nl. March 31, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  6. "Maurice Watson signs with Pallacanestro Forlì". Sportando. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  7. "Maurice Watson (ex Gemlik) signs at Twarde Pierniki". Eurobasket. August 7, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  8. Dahan, Netanel (November 29, 2021). "M.Rishon inks Maurice Watson, ex Twarde Pierniki". Eurobasket. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  9. ""Maurice Watson been cut from Maccabi Rishon Letzion, and answered:"at last!"". sport5.co.il (in Hebrew). April 5, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  10. "Maurice "Mo" Williams naar Telenet Giants Antwerp". nieuwsblad.be (in Dutch). July 8, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  11. "Watson rakip olarak double double yaptığı Gaziantep'te" (in Turkish). basketfaul. July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  12. Cooper, Todd (September 25, 2017). "Prosecutors drop rape charge against Maurice Watson; ex-Creighton player pleads no contest to different assault charge". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
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