Maurice Creek came to Indiana as a elite talent with NBA aspirations. Now, he’s having trouble getting back on the court.
After a breakout freshman season, Maurice Creek has been hampered by injuries.
The team announced today that Creek underwent surgery “to repair a torn Achilles tendon he suffered away from the basketball court in his left leg.”
This injury was suffered away from the basketball court on Friday, when the team had their last weekend off prior to the season. He will miss the entire 2011-12 season, as an injury like this usually takes at least eight months to recover.
“All or our energy is devoted to Maurice in helping him through this latest setback,” said Tom Crean. “I know he and his family have always appreciated the thoughts and prayers they receive from Hoosier Nation.”
Creek, a junior guard, arrived in Bloomington three years ago with Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls in Crean’s first real recruiting class with the hopes of restoring the Hoosiers to their winning ways.
After a strong showing in non-conference play, Maurice Creek suffereed his first injury in December of 2009 against Bryant University and had surgery on his broken left patella. Then last year, he went down again in January against Michigan after suffering a less-severe stress fracture in his other (right) patella.
“This is a devastating blow for someone who has worked so hard to get himself in a position to help this program again,” said Crean. “He is going to receive the best medical care possible and we will take his recovery one day at a time. I think the most important thing that we can do is to make Maurice know that despite his injury, he can serve a very vital role in helping our program and we will actively keep him involved every day.”
Before this injury, I don’t think anyone knew just how much he could play and what to expect from Mo this year. His shot was still strong but it would have been challenging for him to make quick cuts and run hard. It definitely hurts IU, but I didn’t expect him to be provide big contributions.
Just last Thursday, I saw Creek while participating in the media challenge. He was up-beat and anxious for the season, although he wasn’t 100% yet or involved in team drills. Crean did note on his twitter account about a month ago that, “It was great to have Maurice in a workout the other day. He shot it very well. Made 19 straight 3 pointers at one point in a drill.”
More bad luck for a good kid, that all he wants to do is play basketball.
The season officially begins this Saturday, October 15th with Hoosier Hysteria at 7:30 pm in Assembly Hall.