:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31667965/20131117_lbm_sv3_038.0.jpg)
As the Doug McDermott era comes to a close, the Creighton Bluejays will be searching for a new identity with a new look. Projected to be filling a lineup that will return just one starter, point guard Austin Chatman, the task of competing in the Big East Conference will be an uphill battle.
This weekend however, news broke that could help ease the adjustment period.
Maurice Watson, a rising sophomore from Boston University, announced that he would be leaving the Terriers to become a Creighton Bluejay. Watson will have to sit out this upcoming season, but will be able to retain his two remaining years of eligibility in 2015 and 2016, per CBS Sports' Jeff Borzello.
Later on Sunday, Watson confirmed the initial report on his Twitter account.
The 5'10" point guard brings a high level of scoring, efficiency, and playmaking abilities to Omaha along with him. A season ago, the Philadelphia native racked up the second-highest assist rate in the country at 49.9 percent. The only player with a better ARate was LIU Brooklyn's Jason Brickman. Watson's playmaking abilities were evident elsewhere on the stat sheet as he averaged 7.1 assists a night in 2013, up from the 5.4 assists he averaged in his freshman year in Beantown.
Watson had the highest usage rate of any Terrier a season ago at 28.0 percent and made the most of it. He scored 13.3 points per night, including a season-high 21 points against Lafayette in early March. Watson did so with quiet efficiency, averaging an eFG% of 53.1 percent and his TS% was at 54.5 percent. Both of those numbers were up from what he collected in his first year as a Terrier.
With Chatman and junior college transfer Devin Brooks set to leave after the 2014-15 season, Creighton will be in search of a point guard. With Watson, the transition should prove to be fluid. Greg McDermott is already off to a good start in the post-McDermott era of Creighton basketball with his angling of Maurice Watson, and this move should excite Bluejay fans for what the future holds.