Maurice "Mo" Watson Jr. (born March 8, 1993) is an American
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player for
CSO Voluntari
Clubul Sportiv Orășenesc Voluntari 2005, commonly known as CSO Voluntari or simply Voluntari, is a Romanian multi-sport club based in Voluntari who was founded at the initiative of the office of the Mayor of Voluntari. The club currently has 13 ...
of the
Liga Națională. Standing at , Watson Jr. plays as
point guard. He played college basketball for both
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...
and
Creighton.
High school career
Watson played for
Boys' Latin of Philadelphia Charter School
, motto_translation = "Every man is the architect of his own fortune"
, address = 5501 Cedar Avenue
, city = Philadelphia
, county =
, state = Pennsylvania
, zipcode ...
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
Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...
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
''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 5 ...
.
College career
Watson Jr. played for
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...
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
Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi
* Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...
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
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...
, style="text-align:left;",
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...
, 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
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...
, 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
, 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
ZZ Leiden Basketball, also known as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, is a basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands. The club plays in the BNXT League, the domestic first tier league. Their home games are played at Vijf Meihal, which has 2,000 seats. ...
of the
Dutch Basketball League
The Dutch Basketball League (DBL), formerly the Eredivisie, was the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands, run by the Federatie Eredivisie Basketball (FEB). Since 2021, the league has been replaced by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT L ...
(DBL). On November 10, Watson scored a DBL season-high 22 points in a 82–87 loss to
Landstede
Landstede Hammers is a Dutch basketball club based in Zwolle. The club plays in the BNXT League, the Dutch top tier division. The club was founded as Cees Lubbers The Hammers in 1995. In 1999, the club’s name was changed into Landstede Hammers. ...
.
On March 31, Watson won the
NBB Cup
The Basketball Cup, formerly the NBB Cup ( nl, NBB-Beker), is an annual cup competition for Dutch basketball teams organised by the Basketball Nederland. Every team in the Netherlands can participate by signing up for the preliminary rounds. Prof ...
with Leiden. 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
The Dutch Basketball League (DBL) All-Star Team, also known as All-DBL Team, is a team constituted by the main players in a season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. This team is based o ...
.
On July 20, 2019, Watson signed with
Forlì 2.015 of the Italian
Serie A2 Basket
Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian basketball league system, Italian league pyramid, below the first ...
.
Watson spent the 2020-21 season in Turkey with
Budo Gemlik Budo or buddo may refer to:
* Budō, a Japanese term describing Japanese martial arts
* Buddo hill, a hill in central Uganda cultural and academic significance
** Kings College Budo, a mixed boarding high school located on Budo Hill
* Budo (G.I. Joe ...
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
Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league pyramid. The winning team of the final round are crow ...
. 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
Maccabi Rishon LeZion is a sport club in Rishon LeZion, Israel.
The professional teams associated with it include:
*Maccabi Rishon LeZion (basketball)
*Maccabi Rishon LeZion (handball)
* Maccabi Rishon LeZion (badminton)
There was also a footb ...
of the
Israeli Basketball Premier League
Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional competition in Israeli club basketball, making it Israel's primary basketball ...
. On April 5, 2022, he was released from the team, due to "behavior that does not suit the club's values".
On July 8, 2022, he has signed with
Telent Antwerp Giants of the
BNXT League
The BNXT League, for sponsorship reasons the betFirst BNXT League, is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the DBL and PBL. The inaugural s ...
.
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.
References
External links
Cregighton Bluejays bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Maurice
1993 births
Living people
American expatriate basketball people in Italy
American expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands
American expatriate basketball people in Poland
American expatriate basketball people in Turkey
American men's basketball players
Antwerp Giants players
Basketball players from Philadelphia
Boston University Terriers men's basketball players
B.S. Leiden players
Dutch Basketball League players
Creighton Bluejays men's basketball players
Maccabi Rishon LeZion basketball players
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Point guards
Twarde Pierniki Toruń players