Jensen: Big Bentley dreams for a Philly guy in Omaha

Creighton basketball star Maurice Watson Jr., who grew up in West Philadelphia, worked out enough at Villanova in his younger days that Watson remembers briefly having the security code to 'Nova's locker room.

Watson - who must have the only nickname in college hoops bestowed by Allen Iverson himself, in Fairmount Park - originally chose to play at Boston University partly, he said, because the whole setup "reminded me of 'Nova," which made sense since a former Villanova assistant was head coach at BU when Watson began looking at schools and when Pat Chambers left for Penn State he was replaced by Joe Jones, another former 'Nova assistant.

"They ran the same plays," said Watson, who played two seasons at BU then transferred to Creighton after the 2013-14 season. "The play they ran for Kris Jenkins in the championship game is called Australia. We ran that play all the time."

Watson calls Jay Wright his "second-favorite coach" after his own Creighton coach, Greg McDermott. And he has always been close to Wildcats assistant Ashley Howard, whose younger brother has been one of Watson's closest friends, he said, since they were 9 years old.

What was the closest Watson came to going to college in Philadelphia? Watson said he heard from Howard when he announced he was transferring and "I really thought about" taking a visit but at that point the better fit was with Creighton. (Hard to say if Villanova actually could have fit Watson in, with a loaded backcourt and a full-court press on to get point guard Jalen Brunson the next year).

You could argue in hindsight that Watson, from Boys Latin, was under-recruited out of high school, that Power 5 schools all over could have recognized the translatable talent of a guy who scored 2,356 points in high school. Easy to say now that Watson is on preseason all-American watch lists, after the 5-10 point guard averaged 14.1 points and led the Big East with 6.5 assists a game in 2015-16. He's now led his league in assists all three seasons he's played college basketball.

(It's just hard to argue Villanova went for the wrong local guard that year since Watson was in the same class with a guy named Arcidiacono.)

His game back home was special enough that his nickname of Doo-Wop came from Allen Iverson himself, in 2005. Watson was at a family picnic in Fairmount Park. Iverson, late in his time with the Sixers, showed up with a separate group, but joined the Watson group throwing a football around. Eventually, the little group begged Iverson to go to a nearby basketball court and finally he agreed.

Watson told the rest of the story in a video when Iverson made the Hall of Fame.

"It was completely surrounded by fans who saw Iverson and wanted to watch," Watson said. "So I won the first game. We ran it back, and I lost the second one. But back then, 2005, I was 12, so I don't like losing much, so I cried every time I lost. He like picked me and took me to his Bentley, me and my brothers. He was like, you remind me of a Shorty Doo-Wop, so that's what I'm going to call you. So we went to Fridays, got some food. That night probably changed my life since he was already my favorite player."

Two weeks later, Watson said, he had Sixers tickets. He usually got the $20 seats and snuck down, "a make-believe parent or something down there. I get down there at halftime. I yell at him, 'Yo, pick it up.' He was like, 'Doo-Wop, how'd you get down here?' When I said that, I'm like, 'I don't like my first name anymore, everybody just call me Doo-Wop.' It just traveled with me."

Watson grew up at 53rd and Walnut. His grandmother lived at 59th and Addison. His high school was at 55th and Cedar. And he learned to play basketball at the YMCA at 52nd and Chestnut.

His father still has video, Watson said, of a game going on at that West Philadelphia YMCA and when the film cuts to the other end of the court, there is Maurice, about 4 years old, rolling around on the court.

His father was a football player and tried to get his son to switch out of basketball, but a coach at the Y convinced him otherwise, and his dad became his youth coach.

"We learned the game together," Watson said.

And at that Y, Watson said, all sorts of players rolled through, from Dion Waiters to Aaron Brown to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to the Morris twins.

The first time Watson actually played back here against Villanova, he said, "felt surreal." This season, he added, "I don't want that personal stuff in my head like it was last year. It's about the team. Each game I come out and put my own personal needs and personal goals first, we're not going to be successful."

Watson doesn't mind being the show. It was part of the pull toward Creighton, which packs the 18,300-seat CenturyLink Center. Watson believed there was a need to fill the role Doug McDermott had as the main attraction.

"There was a void for them, and I could bring something to Omaha," Watson said. "I want to really do that by bringing more entertainment, more flash, not just coming off a down screen and shooting threes. I felt like there being no NBA team, no NFL, no MLB, really allowed me to put my hand, my imprint, on the city of Omaha. I think I did a good job of that my first two years and I felt like coming back this year, I really see the appreciation. I'm really excited to have a better season."

With Creighton picked third in the Big East and getting Top 25 attention, Watson admitted that requires a different mind-set.

"All my life, I've been an underdog," Watson said. "All my life I've been told I can't do things, this or that."

So his message to his teammates is not to think they've earned anything yet just because "we have our pieces," but not to fear the big dreams - Bentley dreams.

"Leading us to the tournament, Final Four, Elite Eight - we don't want to settle," Watson said. "We're in it for the stars right now."

And if the Big East school back home showed Watson that's not crazy, that the right security code can unlock all sorts of success, that's all right too.

mjensen@phillynews.com

@jensenoffcampus