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After a dismal 2008-2009 basketball season, in fact it was the worst basketball season ever for an Indiana Hoosier’s basketball team, it became evident that head-coach Tom Crean needed to infuse his team with more talent, especially talent that could score. That leads us to Maurice Creek, who has shown during his high school years that he can score from just about anywhere on the floor. Recruited by Crean while he was still head coach at Memphis, Creek decided to become part of the 2009 Indiana Hoosier’s Men’s Basketball recruiting class soon after Crean became head coach of the Hoosiers.

2009 Indiana Basketball Recruiting – Maurice Creek’s Background

Maurice Creek’s road to Indiana has been one that is usually not traveled very often. The reason being, due to grades and the amount of transfers, Creek needed five years to complete his high school career. With that said, let’s start at the beginning. Creek is a 6ft. 5in. guard from the city of Temple Hills, Maryland. His first high school was Oxon Hills. In fact, it was during his freshman year, that varsity coach Billy Lanier promoted him because as stated earlier, the kid could flat out shoot. After the season was finished, Creek transferred to perennial high school powerhouse Mt. Zion Christian Academy in Durham, NC. but had to repeat his freshman year due to grades.

From there it was back to Oxon Hills where he averaged over 22 points a game and started to be considered as one of the top college prospects. But the journey still continued as he transferred to South Kent Connecticut for his junior season. As a junior he averaged just under 22 points a game. But just wait, we aren’t done yet as we have one more stop and that is at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia for his senior, and fifth year, of high school. Creek was the leading scorer for Hargrave but it was a moot point as he had already signed a letter of intent to attend Indiana.

2009 Indiana Basketball Recruiting  – Maurice Creek’s Skill Set

Needless to say, Creek is a scorer that can hit the jumper from any point on the floor. He has shown NBA range but still needs to improve on his consistency. Although he lacks an explosive first step, Creek is quick enough to drive by defenders and attack the basket if need be. His ball handling skills still need to be polished further but he will mainly be used as a scorer in Tom Crean’s offensive system. As a defender, Creek uses his long arms effectively to harass his opponent into mistakes. Creek, just due to his height and scoring ability, will surely create matchup problems when he is on the floor. What Creek needs to work on his intensity and focus as he has shown in the past to lose interest when his shot is not falling. He will also need to add some upper body strength to withstand the rigors of Big Ten Conference play. Look for this young man to be a contributor to the Hoosier’s from the beginning of the 2009-2010 basketball season.

Refs:

http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=68094

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/player?recruitId=53944&season=2009&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2frecruiting%2ftracker%2fplayer%3frecruitId%3d53944%26season%3d2009

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=teamreports-2009-ncaab-iai&prov=sportsxchange&type=team_report