Maurice Watson

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Maurice Watson

| image =

| position = Point guard

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 11

| weight_lb = 175

| league =

| team = Free Agent

| number =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1993|3|8}}

| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

| nationality = American

| high_school = Boys' Latin
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

| college =

Boston University (2012–2014)
Creighton (2015–2017)

| 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 = 2023–2024

| team8 = Gaziantep Basketbol

| highlights =

FIBA Europe Cup assists leader (2019)
All-DBL Team (2019)
Dutch Cup champion (2019)
DBL assists leader (2019)
Second-team All-Big East (2016)
First-team All-Patriot League (2014)
Third-team All-America East (2013)
First-team Parade All-American (2012)

}}

Maurice "Mo" Watson Jr. (born March 8, 1993) is an American basketball player who last played for Gaziantep Basketbol of the Turkish Basketball First League (TBL). Standing at {{Convert|5|ft|11|in|m}}, 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 to 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{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com.au/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/18496332/maurice-watson-jr-creighton-bluejays-suffered-torn-acl |title=Maurice Watson Jr. of Creighton Bluejays suffered torn ACL |work=ESPN.com.au |date=2017-01-18 |access-date=2018-08-01}}{{cite web|url=https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Mo-Watson/Summary/41309 |title=Mo Watson Player Profile |publisher=Basketball.realgm.com |access-date=2018-08-01}}

| 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).{{cite web |url=https://www.eredivisiebasketballleiden.nl/nieuws/nieuwsoverzicht/nieuwsbericht/?bericht=3190 |title=Maurice Watson Jr. nieuwe spelmaker |language=nl |publisher=Eredivisiebasketballleiden.nl |access-date=2018-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402111652/https://www.eredivisiebasketballleiden.nl/nieuws/nieuwsoverzicht/nieuwsbericht/?bericht=3190 |archive-date=2019-04-02 |url-status=dead }} On November 10, Watson scored a DBL season-high 22 points in an 82–87 loss to Landstede.{{cite web|url=https://basketballleague.nl/nieuws/4414|title=Landstede Basketbal wint topper|work=basketballleague.nl|access-date=11 December 2018}} On March 31, Watson won the NBB Cup with Leiden.{{cite web|url=https://nos.nl/l/2278403|title=Basketballers ZZ Leiden veroveren nationale beker|work=nos.nl|date=March 31, 2019 |access-date=1 April 2019}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://sportando.basketball/en/maurice-watson-signs-with-pallacanestro-forli/|title=Maurice Watson signs with Pallacanestro Forlì|newspaper=Sportando|access-date=20 July 2019}}

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.{{cite web |title=Maurice Watson (ex Gemlik) signs at Twarde Pierniki |url=https://www.eurobasket.com/Turkey/news/698623/Maurice-Watson-(ex-Gemlik)-signs-at-Twarde-Pierniki |website=Eurobasket |access-date=August 8, 2021 |date=August 7, 2021}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Dahan |first1=Netanel |title=M.Rishon inks Maurice Watson, ex Twarde Pierniki |url=https://www.eurobasket.com/Israel/news/718382/M.Rishon-inks-Maurice-Watson,-ex-Twarde-Pierniki |website=Eurobasket |access-date=November 29, 2021 |date=November 29, 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sport5.co.il/articles.aspx?FolderID=274&docID=398714|title="Maurice Watson been cut from Maccabi Rishon Letzion, and answered:"at last!"|date=April 5, 2022|website=sport5.co.il|language=he|access-date=August 17, 2022}}

On July 8, 2022, he has signed with Telent Antwerp Giants of the BNXT League.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20220708_96039808|title=Maurice "Mo" Williams naar Telenet Giants Antwerp|date=July 8, 2022|website=nieuwsblad.be|language=nl|access-date=August 17, 2022}}

On July 23, 2023, he signed with Gaziantep Basketbol of the Turkish Basketball First League (TBL).{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketfaul.com/haber?haber=109314|title=Watson rakip olarak double double yaptığı Gaziantep'te|date=July 23, 2023|publisher=basketfaul|language=tr|access-date=July 24, 2023}}

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.{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Todd |title=Prosecutors drop rape charge against Maurice Watson; ex-Creighton player pleads no contest to different assault charge |url=https://www.omaha.com/news/crime/prosecutors-drop-rape-charge-against-maurice-watson-ex-creighton-player/article_30ff9328-9fb3-11e7-ab49-8f82624c17cf.html |access-date=August 5, 2018 |work=Omaha World-Herald |date=September 25, 2017}}